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Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI: Equinor ASA: Key information relating to cash dividend for first quarter 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Key information relating to the cash dividend to be paid by Equinor (OSE: EQNR, NYSE: EQNR) for first quarter 2025.

    Cash dividend amount: 0.37

    Announced currency: USD

    Last day including rights: 15 August 2025

    Ex-date Oslo Børs : 18 August 2025

    Ex-date New York Stock Exchange: 19 August 2025

    Record date: 19 August 2025

    Payment date: 29 August 2025

    Date of approval: 29 April 2025

    Other information: The cash dividend per share in NOK will be communicated 25 August 2025.

    This information is published in accordance with the requirements of the Continuing Obligations and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 in the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Equinor to commence second tranche of the 2025 share buy-back programme

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Equinor (OSE: EQNR, NYSE: EQNR) will after the annual general meeting 14 May 2025 commence the second tranche of up to USD 1,265 million of the share buy-back programme for 2025, as announced in relation with the first quarter results 30 April 2025.

    Execution of share buy-back under the tranche is subject to renewal of a board authorisation for share buy-back from the annual general meeting 14 May 2025 and agreement with the Norwegian State regarding share buy-back.

    In this second tranche of the share buy-back programme for 2025, shares for up to USD 417.5 million will be purchased in the market, implying a total second tranche of up to USD 1,265 million including shares to be redeemed from the Norwegian State. The tranche will end no later than 21 July 2025.

    Equinor announced at the Capital Market Update in February 2025 a share buy-back programme of up to USD 5 billion for 2025, including shares to be redeemed from the Norwegian State, in order to conclude the two-year programme for 2024 – 2025, announced in February 2024. The share buy-back programme will be subject to market outlook and balance sheet strength and be structured into tranches where Equinor will buy back shares for a certain value in USD over a defined period. For the second tranche in 2025, Equinor will be entering into a non-discretionary agreement with a third party who will execute repurchases of shares and make its trading decisions independently of the company.

    Commencement of new share buy-back tranches after the second tranche in 2025 will be decided by the board of directors on a quarterly basis in line with the company’s dividend policy and will be subject to a new board authorisation for share buy-back from the company’s annual general meeting and agreement with the Norwegian State regarding share buy-back (as further described below).

    The purpose of the share buy-back programme is to reduce the issued share capital of the company. All shares purchased as part of the second tranche for 2025 will thus be cancelled through a capital reduction at the annual general meeting of the company in May 2026.

    Further information about the share buy-back programme and the second tranche:

    The second tranche of the share buy-back programme for 2025 is subject to an authorisation being granted to the board of directors by the annual general meeting of the company 14 May 2025. According to such authorisation proposed by the board of directors, the maximum number of shares which can be purchased in the market is 84 million. The minimum price that can be paid per share is NOK 50, and the maximum price is NOK 1,000. The authorisation proposed will be valid until the annual general meeting of the company in May 2026, but no later than 30 June 2026.

    It is a precondition for execution of the second tranche that Equinor and the Norwegian State have entered into an agreement regulating the State’s participation in the share buy-back programme: At the annual general meeting of the company in May 2026, the State will, as per proposal by the board of directors, vote for the cancellation of shares purchased in the market pursuant to the board authorisation, and the redemption and cancellation of a proportionate number of its shares in order to maintain its ownership share in the company at 67%. The price to be paid to the State for redemption of the State’s shares shall be the volume-weighted average of the price paid by Equinor for shares purchased in the market plus interest rate compensation, adjusted for any dividends paid.

    In the second tranche in 2025, shares will be purchased on the Oslo Stock Exchange and possibly other trading venues within the EEA. Transactions will be conducted in accordance with applicable safe harbour conditions, and as further set out in the Norwegian Securities Trading Act of 2007, EU Commission Regulation (EC) No 2016/1052 and the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority’s Guidelines for buy-back programmes from March 2025.

    The board of directors will propose to the annual general meeting to be held in May 2026, to cancel shares purchased in the market in this second tranche in 2025 and to redeem and cancel a proportionate number of the State’s shares per the agreement with the State. Based on renewal of this agreement, shares purchased under subsequent tranches of the share buy-back programme for 2025, and a proportionate number of the State’s shares will follow a similar process at the annual general meeting of the company in 2026.

    This is information that Equinor is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and that is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

    Further information from:

    Investor relations
    Bård Glad Pedersen, senior vice president Investor Relations,
    +47 918 01 791

    Media
    Sissel Rinde, vice president Media Relations,
    +47 412 60 584

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: One year from extinction day: Minister urged to act

    Source: ACT Party

    “We are now less than one year away from a potential mass extinction event for small incorporated societies across New Zealand,” warns ACT MP Laura McClure, who has a bill in Parliament’s ballot to address the issue.

    With the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 set to require all existing societies to re-register under a new regime by April next year, McClure is raising the alarm again that it will impose unsustainable costs on many grassroots small societies.

    RNZ has reported that around 18,000 incorporated societies are yet to re-register under the new legislation.

    “Small societies are telling me that they lack the expertise to deal with the upcoming regime’s unworkable rules. Stamp collecting groups and running clubs can’t necessarily afford the thousands of dollars in financial and legal advice to stay above board,” says McClure.

    “These are not large societies. These are local clubs and community associations that have operated successfully, providing valuable services to the community, and now they face the real risk of folding entirely.

    “I have lodged a member’s bill that would define small societies, and effectively carve them out from the most onerous new liabilities and financial reporting requirements. This week I have written to the new Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister to urge that he either implement my suggested changes to legislation, or defer the looming compliance deadline.

    “It is not too late to act, but the clock is ticking.”

    Laura McClure’s Incorporated Societies (Small Societies) Amendment Bill can be found here.

    Her letter to the Minister can be found here.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Development Asia: Safeguarding Pastures, Increasing Dairy Income for Mongolian Herders

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    A recent study by the Asian Development Bank indicates that developing modern milk production based on inclusive contractual arrangements has the potential to address seasonal fluctuations in milk supply, while alleviating the overgrazing problem and supporting the livelihood of herder households at the same time.

    As part of the private sector-led Inclusive Dairy Value Chain Investment Project, which was implemented from 2019 to 2023, ADB supported the Mongolian dairy processor, Milko Limited Liability Company, in expanding the collection of raw milk from herder households in six soums (sub-provinces) in three aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. With this project support, collection points were installed in soum centers located as far as over 400 kilometers from Ulaanbaatar, where Milko’s processing plant is located. Each collection point was strategically identified to gather raw milk from around 200 herder households located within a radius of around 70 kilometers. Once sufficient milk is collected, it is transported to the processing facility in Ulaanbaatar by a larger truck. This system ensures that the raw milk can reach the processing facility in less than 24 hours after milking during the peak milk production months.

    The impact study reveals that herder households supplying raw milk to Milko could increase their inflation-adjusted household income by 3.6% per year, compared to 2.6% of the comparison group or non-supplying herders, while controlling for other factors. Despite having smaller herd sizes, milk supplier households earn 20% more in monthly income than non-suppliers on average.

    The Milko-type supply chain enables herders to sell milk and improve their livelihood while still engaging in traditional livestock herding. This helps reduce grazing pressure on grasslands as they can earn more from milk production even with a small number of livestock units. When herders have the opportunity to earn income from milk sales, they take full advantage of it. They often move closer to the collection route, diligently protect their milk from spoiling, and aim for maximum milk output by any means possible.

    Herders can supply milk to dairy processors only if they have access to collection points. Collection by Milko and other large dairy processors is feasible only if there are paved roads that allow for fast and efficient transport. Other factors, such as availability of sufficient milk resources and electricity, also influence this decision. To facilitate milk collection, improvements in road infrastructure, electricity supply, herd structure, and breed quality are needed. These can be encouraged through targeted government policies.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Inflation is easing, boosting the case for another interest rate cut in May

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra

    Daria Nipot/Shutterstock

    Australia’s headline inflation rate held steady at a four-year low of 2.4% in the March quarter, according to official data, adding to the case for a cut in interest rates at the next Reserve Bank board meeting in May.

    A key measure of underlying inflation closely watched by the RBA fell to 2.9%, returning to within the 2-3% inflation target band for the first time since 2021.

    Food and beverages, tobacco, education and housing were the main contributors to the rise in the headline Consumer Price Index.

    Financial markets are pricing in a quarter-percentage point cut in the cash rate to 3.85% in May.

    The inflation report was the last piece of major economic data before Saturday’s federal election.

    Prices are still rising, just at a slower rate

    A fall in inflation does not mean prices are falling. Overall, prices are continuing to rise, but at a slower pace.

    Moreover, prices continue to rise at a higher rate for some things people notice most, such as meat, fruit and vegetables. Concerns about the high cost of living will not go away. But it is good news for households that prices are now rising less than wages, which are growing by 3.2%.

    Some of the CPI components rising fastest are services such as health, which rose 4.1% in the year to March, and education, up 5.7%.

    Rents increased by 5.5% over the year, still rapid but less than in 2023 and 2024. The movements differed across the country. Rents were up almost 9% in Perth but fell in Hobart.

    New home prices only rose by 1.4% over the year as project-home builders made promotional offers to attract buyers in a more subdued market.

    Some of the recent fall in inflation represents the effect of government measures such as temporary electricity rebates and lower public transport fares. These represent some relief for households from cost-of-living pressures. But they may obscure trends in underlying inflationary pressures.

    The Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of underlying inflation, the trimmed mean measure, removes such impacts by excluding items with the largest price movements up or down. This measure of inflation has fallen to 2.9%, back within the central bank’s target, from 3.3%.

    Green light for an interest rate cut

    Headline inflation is around the middle of the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% medium-term target band. The large 1% quarterly increase in the June quarter of 2024 will drop out of the next annual calculation. So inflation may soon be below the bottom of the band. This has been forecast by Westpac’s economics team (headed by former RBA assistant governor Luci Ellis), for example.

    In its most recent published forecast the Reserve Bank expected inflation to be 2.4% in June. So it may be pleased to see it already there for two quarters. It would also be relieved to see the underlying rate back within the target band.

    In February, Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock conceded the bank had arguably been “late raising interest rates on the way up”. It did not want to be late on the way down.

    At its April 1 meeting, the Reserve Bank board called the May 19-20 meeting “an opportune time to revisit the monetary policy setting with the benefit of additional data about inflation” and other factors.



    Read more:
    Reserve Bank holds rates steady, cautious about the economic outlook

    Global economic outlook darkens

    The outlook for global economic activity has weakened as the US’s trade war with China has escalated. The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global economic growth in 2025 from 3.3% to 2.8%.

    The negative outlook for the global economy and rising business uncertainty certainly adds weight to the case for an official interest rate cut. It would help Australian businesses weather a possible downturn.

    Tariff rises will push up inflation in the US. But there is a bipartisan commitment in Australia not to engage in retaliatory tariff increases. This means there will not be any such inflationary impetus here.

    Indeed, as Bullock pointed out in her April press conference, if China diverts exports that are effectively blocked from entering the US to Australia, then the US tariffs may lower inflationary pressures here.

    Concerns about the inflationary impact of a weaker Australian dollar have eased in recent days. The currency has rebounded to 64 US cents from its early April low of 59.5 US cents.

    The Reserve Bank will, as always, consider a wide range of information in deciding whether to cut interest rates in May. But the single most important piece of information is now giving it the green light.

    Market economists expect another couple of rate cuts in 2025 after May, depending on the impact of the erratic US economic policies on the global economy.

    What does it mean for the election?

    After the CPI release, Treasurer Jim Chalmers noted core inflation was at a three-year low. “This is a powerful demonstration of the progress that Australians have made together in the economy,” he said.

    Chalmers will be hoping the Reserve Bank and the electorate share his view. Labor is more likely to be re-elected if voters regard the cost-of-living pressures as abating.

    John Hawkins was previously a senior economist in the Reserve Bank.

    Stephen Bartos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Inflation is easing, boosting the case for another interest rate cut in May – https://theconversation.com/inflation-is-easing-boosting-the-case-for-another-interest-rate-cut-in-may-255116

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: Shipping expands from Guangzhou to west coast of S. America

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Shipping expands from Guangzhou to west coast of S. America

    A shipping vessel docked at the Phase II Terminal of the Nansha Port in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Tuesday, marking the launch of the first direct route from Guangzhou to the western coast of South America.

    After loading 400 containers of electronics, household appliances and other products manufactured in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the vessel will start its journey bound for South America.

    The WSA3 route, operated with 11 vessels of 10,062 TEU container capacity, will connect Guangzhou’s Nansha Port with key ports in Latin America including Chancay Port in Peru, Manzanillo Port in Mexico and San Antonio Port in Chile.

    “The route’s opening will help boost the comprehensive upgrade of the logistics channel between the Greater Bay Area and the western coast of Latin America, further enhancing the golden channel for economic and trade exchanges between China and Latin America,” said Sun Bangcheng, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Port Company Limited.

    China has become the second-largest trading partner of Latin America, following the signing of the first free trade agreement between China and Latin American countries 20 years ago.

    The trade volume between China and Latin America has grown from around $12 billion in 2000 to approximately $500 billion in 2024, according to Customs data.

    The new route directly connecting Chancay Port in Peru, operated by COSCO Shipping Ports Limited, is an important project under the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative between China and Peru.

    Serving as South America’s first smart and green port, the operation of Chancay Port is seen as a model of infrastructure cooperation between China and Latin America, helping shorten the sea transportation time between Peru and China to 23 days, saving over 20 percent in logistics costs.

    “This route not only provides a fast lane for ‘Made in China’ products like household appliances, electronics, furniture and toys from the Greater Bay Area to venture into the Latin American market, but also enables high-quality tropical fruit, Pacific coast seafood, Andean wines, as well as commodities like pulp, fishmeal and minerals to enter the Chinese market,” said Sun.

    Located in the Nansha port area, the Nansha International Cold Chain Project has built three multistory cold storage facilities, offering a total storage capacity of 227,000 metric tons, according to the port company.

    With the ability of inspecting 162 refrigerated containers simultaneously, the facilities ensure that the seamless cold chain services for temperature-controlled goods are never broken, from inspection through to storage.

    Dubbed “Asia’s largest refrigerator”, the project has supported the Chilean cherry express route at Nansha Port since 2019. Chile’s cherry exports surged 51.4 percent year-on-year in 2024, with China remaining the South American country’s top cherry export market.

    “With the operation of the new shipping route and other logistics support, more refrigerated cargo such as beef, lamb, white shrimp, salmon, squid, grapes, avocados, prunes and plums are expected to efficiently reach Chinese consumers through Nansha port,” said Sun.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: ICYMI: Celebrating President Trump’s Incredible First 100 Days

    Source: The White House

    President Donald J. Trump has accomplished more in 100 days than most presidents do over an entire term — and he’s still just getting started. President Trump’s unprecedented work in the first 100 days has earned praise from across Capitol Hill and beyond.

    Here’s what they’re saying:

    Speaker Mike Johnson: “@POTUS has been able to do far more for the American people in the first 100 days than the Biden Administration did in four years. Thanks to the Trump White House, AMERICA IS BACK – and we’re just getting started.”

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune: “It’s been 100 days of the new Trump administration, and @POTUS is delivering. Securing our southern border, restoring American strength, extending tax relief for Americans, unleashing American energy, saving taxpayer dollars, and restoring common sense.”

    Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso: “In the first 100 days under @POTUS Trump, Republicans are fighting for the American people. Secure the border. Rebuild the economy. Restore peace through strength. Unleash American energy.”

    Senate Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton: “Joe Biden unleashed mass illegal migration across our nation during his time in office. In his first 100 days, President Trump ended the Biden Border Crisis by cracking down on criminals and following the law.”

    Sen. Jim Banks: “100 days of securing the border… Thanks to President Trump’s strong leadership, the invasion along our borders is over!”

    Sen. Marsha Blackburn: “Congratulations to President Trump on 100 days of Making America Great Again.”

    Sen. Katie Britt: “President Trump has kept his promises in the first 100 days.”

    Sen. Ted Budd: “From day one: clear goals, hard work, concrete results. At Day 100, @POTUS has built real momentum to deliver long-term prosperity for the American people — and he’s just getting started.”

    Sen. Shelley Moore Capito: “Real leadership leads to real results. @SenateGOP and @POTUS are delivering on our promises in these 100 days to protect and secure our country.”

    Sen. Bill Cassidy: “After 100 days, the results are clear: America is safer and the border is secure.”

    Sen. John Cornyn: “I’ve worked hand-in-glove with President Trump to accomplish his agenda during his first 100 days.”

    Sen. Mike Crapo: “President Trump has had phenomenal successes in his first 100 days. He has closed the border, revitalized our energy production, brought trillions of dollars of capital investment into the United States.”

    Sen. Steve Daines: “In just 100 days, @POTUS has delivered win after win. Border crossings are at an all-time low, American energy is thriving & we’re kicking Biden and the left’s woke agenda to the curb. If this is what 100 days of progress looks like, can’t wait for what the future brings!”

    Sen. Joni Ernst: “From a wide-open southern border to complete border security in just 100 days. That is the Trump effect.”

    Sen. Chuck Grassley: “2day marks 100 days of Pres Trumps return 2 White House Ive seen the President working hard 2 KEEP HIS PROMISES + RESTORE COMMON SENSE Praise the Lord we hv a Commander in Chief who is standing on the platform he ran on& getting things done for the American ppl.”

    Sen. Lindsay Graham: “In just 100 days, President Trump has delivered historic results for the American people… I look forward to continue working with the President and his team in the Senate to make sure we DELIVER his historic agenda to the American people.”

    Sen. Bill Hagerty: “This has been the most effective, most impactful in a positive sense 100 days in my lifetime.”

    Sen. Josh Hawley: “For the first time in decades, working Americans have a President who stands with them. Trump’s giving Americans their country back”

    Sen. John Hoeven: “#100Days in, @POTUS has secured the border and now he’s empowering our energy producers to make the country energy dominant—removing barriers, driving growth, and restoring America’s place as the world’s energy leader.”

    Sen. Jon Husted: “Daily border apprehensions have dropped 95% since @POTUS took office. Pres. Trump is following through on his promise to secure the border and safeguard Americans.”

    Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith: “Just 100 days in, @POTUS and the Senate Republicans are delivering for the American people – securing our border, rolling back harmful Biden policies, confirming Trump nominees, passing common-sense laws, and locking in a strong budget.”

    Sen. Jim Justice: “100 days under @POTUS:
    ✔️American Energy Unleashed
    ✔️Border is secure
    ✔️Manufacturing is coming back to the states
    ✔️ West Virginia Coal making a comeback
    President Trump is just getting started and I will keep working alongside him to get results for Americans!”

    Sen. John Kennedy: “In just 100 days, President Trump has secured the border, fought racial quotas, and totally changed the national conversation about the budget.”

    Sen. James Lankford: “An unprecedented 100 days under President Trump!” Let’s continue this moment for the American people—great job @POTUS.”

    Sen. Mike Lee: “A HISTORIC FIRST 100 DAYS.”

    Sen. Cynthia Lummis: “100 days of a stronger and safer America.”

    Sen. Roger Marshall: “The President’s first 100 days is a return to American greatness.”

    Sen. Dave McCormick: “We’re 100 days into the Trump Administration and we’re already seeing enormous change on behalf of the American people, just like the president promised.”

    Sen. Ashley Moody: “Today marks President Trump’s first 100 days, and the country is already stronger and safer than it has ever been before.”

    Sen. Jerry Moran: “In his first 100 days in office, President Trump has made our southern border safer by ending catch & release, signing the Laken Riley Act into law & reinstating Remain in Mexico. Illegal encounters at the southern border are down 95% thanks to these commonsense policies.”

    Sen. Markwayne Mullin: “100 DAYS: PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT.”

    Sen. Rand Paul: “100 days of cutting government waste, securing the border, pursuing peace abroad, and simply restoring sanity to the American people.”

    Sen. Pete Ricketts: “In his first 100 days in office, President Trump has delivered for the American people.”

    Sen. Jim Risch: “100 days of America First”

    Sen. Rick Scott: “President Trump is delivering on his promises to make our country safer, our economy stronger, and America Great Again!”

    Sen. Tim Scott: “How do you describe 100 days of President Trump? Promises made, promises kept.”

    Sen. Eric Schmitt: “100 days of putting America first. Us”

    Sen. Tim Sheehy: “Whether it’s ending Biden’s border crisis, unleashing American energy, bolstering our military and restoring American strength, or securing better deals for hardworking families, @POTUS has delivered win after win in his first 100 days.”

    Sen. Dan Sullivan: “Congratulations @POTUS on 100 days in office and thank you in particular for working to unleash Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential!”

    Sen. Tommy Tuberville: “He’s done an outstanding job A+, we continue to even get better because he’s solving more problems everyday Thank you, President Trump for what you’ve done!”

    Sen. Roger Wicker: “Mr. President you’re bringing the kind of peace through strength our children will talk about fifty years from now- we thank you.”

    House Majority Leader Steve Scalise: “Today marks 100 DAYS of President Trump and Republican majorities in Congress. … America First and common sense are BACK. And we’re just getting started. Promises made. Promises kept.”

    House Majority Whip Tom Emmer: “100 days in, President Trump is delivering for the people of Minnesota.”

    House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain: “Today, @HouseGOP celebrates POTUS’ historic first 100 days in office. He has delivered on his promises to secure the borders, restore energy independence, show peace through strength, and make America COMPETITIVE.”

    House Republican Leadership Chair Elise Stefanik: “President @realDonaldTrump is securing our borders, reining in inflation, unleashing American energy dominance, combatting antisemitism, supporting the rule of law, and restoring American greatness and peace through strength on the world stage.”

    Rep. Mark Alford: “100 days ago, America was on the brink. Today, because of President Trump: Hope is back. Strength is back. America is BACK.”

    Rep. Rick Allen: “Promises made, promises kept. In just 100 days, @POTUS has delivered:
    ✅ A secure border
    ✅ Safer communities
    ✅ Energy independence
    ✅ Job growth
    ✅ Lowers costs for essentials like gas and eggs
    The list goes on and we’re just getting started!”

    Rep. Jodey Arrington: “In the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term our nation has experienced unprecedented achievements in a new era of American politics defined by competent leadership, common sense policies, and a commitment to America first.”

    Rep. Brian Babin: “100 days in and America is roaring back to life. The economy is up. The border is secure. Our pride is restored. The American comeback is here. FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!”

    Rep. Don Bacon: “I commend the Trump Administration for tackling these campaign promises in the first 100 days:
    ✅ Restoring energy independence & bringing prices under control
    ✅ Securing our border with 95% drop in illegal crossings
    ✅ Taking decisive action against the Houthis
    The border and energy independence were top priorities this past Nov.”

    Rep. Jim Baird: “In 100 days, POTUS and his administration have been reversing the disastrous Biden-era policies and are working hard to usher in the Golden Age of America. Promises made. Promises kept.”

    Rep. Troy Balderson: “In President Trump’s first 100 days, he has…
    us Secured the border
    Unleashed American energy
    Rooted out government waste
    Added 345,000 jobs
    …and we’re just getting started”

    Rep. Andy Barr: “President @realDonaldTrump’s first 100 days have been nothing short of historic. I’m honored to stand with him as we secure the border, unleash American energy, rebuild our economy, and put America First again. Together, we’re delivering the results the American people demanded.”

    Rep. Tom Barrett: “In President Trump’s first 100 days, we’ve teamed up to secure the border, bring manufacturing jobs back, and unleash American energy.
    🚨 Illegal border crossings are at historic lows.
    The Laken Riley Act is signed into law.
    📉 Inflation and energy prices are falling..
    🚔 We are making our communities safe again.
    America First is back and we’re just getting started. #100Days”

    Rep. Michael Baumgartner: “On National Fentanyl Awareness Day, we celebrate the progress made with record low border crossings. President Trump’s first 100 days in office set the stage for this success. Let’s continue the fight to eradicate fentanyl and protect our communities.”

    Rep. Aaron Bean: “We’re celebrating #100Days of President Trump in office, and one thing is abundantly clear: America’s future is looking up! Since day one, POTUS  has understood the assignment: undo the damage done by the previous administration and usher in the Golden Age of America.  Working together at historic speed, we are securing our border, slashing wasteful spending, reviving our economy, and defending our American values.”

    Rep. Stephanie Bice: “100 days of bringing back America first policies.”

    Rep. Gus Bilirakis: “One of President Trump’s biggest success stories in his first 100 days is enhanced border security.  U. S. Customs and Border Protection now has total control of the border, with daily border encounters down by 93%.  March of 2025 saw the lowest monthly number of border encounters in recorded history.  Also, in March of 2025, fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54% compared to March of 2024.  To date, the Trump Administration has also arrested more than 151,000 illegal aliens and has deported over 135,000. This includes 600 members of Tren De Aragua and thousands of MS-13 and 18thStreet Gang members.   We will continue to get dangerous predators off our streets!”

    Rep. Andy Biggs: “President Trump has done more for our country in his first 100 days than Democrats could dream of accomplishing in four years. Countless nations have already reached out to amend unfair trade practices.”

    Rep. Sheri Biggs: “100 Days of Results: President Trump promised to secure our border—and he’s delivered. Illegal crossings are down 94%, catch & release is over, and the border is finally under control.”

    Rep. Mike Bost: “What a difference 100 days make! Border apprehensions dropped by 94%, gas prices are down 6.3%, and egg prices have fallen by 56%. Over 100,000 illegal aliens have been deported, and U.S. manufacturing is roaring back.”

    Rep. Josh Brecheen: “We have seen tremendous progress at our borders due to President
    @realDonaldTrump taking decisive action in his first 100 days:
    • Daily border encounters are DOWN by 93%.
    • Over 135,000 illegal aliens have been DEPORTED.
    • Illegal alien crossings are DOWN by 99.99%.
    Promises made, promises kept!”

    Rep. Vern Buchanan: “In his first 100 days, POTUS has delivered on his promises.”

    Rep. Eric Burlison: “✅ Illegal crossings down 94%
    ✅ $Trillions in private investments
    ✅ Ended the Green New Scam
    ✅ Peace Through Strength
    ✅ Protecting women in sports
    Still not tired of winning.”

    Rep. Ken Calvert: “In the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency the border was in chaos as illegal immigrants and deadly drugs flowed unchecked into America. In the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency order and security has been restored at the border.”

    Rep. Kat Cammack: “In 100 days, President Trump has protected women and girls’ sports, reduced illegal border crossings by 95%, removed dangerous criminals from the U.S., protected our children, enhanced transparency, and more!”

    Rep. Buddy Carter: “It’s been a historic and productive first 100 days of the second Trump Administration. From securing the southern border to reestablishing fair trade deals and unleashing American energy dominance, this presidency can be defined by one word: efficiency.”

    Rep. Juan Ciscomani: “.@POTUS Trump delivered on his promise to secure the border in his first 100 days – and it’s making a real difference for families in #AZ06.Just ask Jim and Sue Chilton. Under President Biden, their ranch saw 5,640 illegal crossings in April 2024. Under President Trump, things have changed for the better. In April 2025, they recorded ZERO crossings in a span of three weeks — a direct result of President Trump’s strong border policies. ✅Promises made, promises kept!”

    Rep. Ben Cline: “Trump’s first 100 days are a new era of American renewal”

    Rep. Michael Cloud: “The difference is undeniable. In just 100 days, President Trump has reversed the failures of the Biden administration and put America back on the path to greatness.”

    Rep. Andrew Clyde: “Today marks 100 days of President Trump putting America FIRST!”

    Rep. Mike Collins: “This has been the most consequential first 100 days in any American presidency.
    ✅The border crisis is solved.
    ✅Domestic manufacturing is back.
    ✅America is respected again.
    ✅DEI is dead.
    100 down and 1362 to go.”

    Rep. James Comer: “100 Days. President Trump has delivered on dozens of promises made to the American people… America’s future is bright under President Trump’s leadership.”

    Rep. Eli Crane: “Thank you, President Trump, for ending the premeditated border invasion. We didn’t need new legislation. We just needed a new President.”

    Rep. Dan Crenshaw: “Today marks President Trump’s 100th day back in office. He promised action, and he’s delivering it. If you listened during the campaign, you knew this was coming — promises made, promises kept”

    Rep. Warren Davidson: “President Trump in his first 100 days:
    – Secured the border
    – Removed woke ideology from the military
    – Eliminated billions in fraud and abuse
    – Deported over 100K illegal aliens
    Best sequel EVER”

    Rep. Monica De La Cruz: “During his first 100 days, President Trump stood up for South Texas farmers and ranchers — demanding Mexico honor its water delivery commitments, and he has delivered. Thank you, @POTUS! #PromisesMadePromisesKept”

    Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart: “100 days of SUCCESS with President Trump back in the White House—leading with strength, and laying the foundation for prosperity and peace for America to be the global powerhouse for generations to come.”

    Rep. Byron Donalds: “THE BEST IS YET TO COME”

    Rep. Troy Downing: “President Trump in his first term talked about promises made, promises kept. This time, it’s on steroids.”

    Rep. Neal Dunn: “100 days in, and the Trump administration has already achieved countless victories! From plummeting illegal border crossings to swift downsizing of the bloated federal bureaucracy, President Trump is delivering for the American people!”

    Rep. Ron Estes: “Today marks 100 days of President Trump’s second term. @POTUS and House Republicans have been hard at work to turn the page on four years of open borders, a sluggish economy and runaway federal spending. In just 100 days, border encounters are down 95%, hostages have returned home, violent criminals are being deported, more than $5 trillion in new investments have been secured, and the Department of Government Efficiency has saved taxpayers $160 billion (that’s an average saving of $1.6 billion every day). But we’re just getting started – we’re working to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, preserve and protect Social Security, reduce wasteful spending and restore our energy independence.”

    Rep. Mike Ezell: “During @POTUS’s first 100 days, the Coast Guard has worked around the clock to defend our maritime borders and stop the flow of illegal drugs and migrants. I’m proud that President Trump is recognizing their hard work—service that too often goes unnoticed but is vital to our national security.”

    Rep. Pat Fallon: “President Trump’s border security measures have yielded incredible results in 100 days. With 113,000 arrests, over 100,000 deportations, and a 94% reduction in illegal crossings, his policies are in the best interest of all Americans and public safety.”

    Rep. Julie Fedorchak: “Today is the 100 day marker for @POTUS Trump. He is tackling big issues that have long been ignored.
    ✅ Illegal border crossings are down 95%. Turns out we didn’t need new laws. We needed a new President that would actually enforce them.
    ✅ American energy is on the move. We are aggressively and responsibly developing our nation’s abundant, diverse natural resources.
    ✅ President Biden’s stifling regulations are being rolled back—lifting burdens off our farmers, businesses, and energy producers.
    ✅ Government waste, fraud and abuse is being identified and eliminated.
    Promises made. Promises kept.”

    Rep. Randy Feenstra: “In just 100 days, President Trump has achieved incredible victories for our country. He locked down our border, deported violent criminals, repealed ridiculous Biden-era regulations, and rooted our waste, fraud, and abuse in our government.”

    Rep. Brad Finstad: “In his first 100 days in office, President Trump has delivered on his promises, with over 300,000 new jobs created, strengthened border security, and an improved economic outlook for our nation. Together, we will continue working to restore the American Dream by making our communities safer and addressing the kitchen-table issues that matter most to the American people.”

    Rep. Michelle Fischbach: “In his first 100 days, @POTUS has signed the Laken Riley Act into law, has dangerous gangs and cartels shaking in their boots, and has shut our borders to illegal immigrants.”

    Rep. Scott Fitzgerald: “Only 100 days in, and @POTUS has delivered real results… I’m proud to stand with President Trump and the America First agenda!”

    Rep. Chuck Fleischmann: “In his first 100 Days, @POTUS is taking strong action to get America back on track! President Trump has:
    Secured our borders.
    Ended the war on American-made energy.
    Begun rebuilding our economy.
    Signed the Laken Riley Act into law.
    Restored commonsense in government.”

    Rep. Vince Fong: “In his first 100 days, President Trump has relentlessly pursued policies that are delivering on his promises to Central Valley families and the American people as we speak.”

    Rep. Scott Franklin: “100 days back in the White House and the results speak for themselves… America is back on the path to strength, security and prosperity!”

    Rep. Russell Fry: “President Trump’s first 100 days in office have been the MOST SUCCESSFUL IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY.”

    Rep. Brandon Gill: “President Trump’s historic presidency delivered major wins for the American people in his first 100 days.”

    Rep. Craig Goldman:” For years, we had a President who allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood across our borders. In 100 days, @POTUS has secured the border. The difference is clear:
    ✅ Daily apprehensions are down 94%
    ✅ Known gotaways are down 90%
    ✅ 100,000+ illegal aliens have been deported”

    Rep. Tony Gonzales: “Illegal Border Crossings⬇️95%
    Unleashing American Energy
    Water Deliveries from Mexico to South Texas
    Empowering LEOs to Tackle Crime & Protect our Communities
    And we’re just getting started! #100Days”

    Rep. Lance Gooden: “Just 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second term, the answer is resounding: Yes, we are better off.”

    Rep. Sam Graves: “In his first 100 days, President Trump has moved quickly to secure the border, unleash American energy production, and get rid of burdensome regulations… It’s exactly what the American people voted for.”

    Rep. Mark Green: “In less than three months, President Trump has restored law and order to our nation’s borders, removed criminal illegal aliens from our communities, and helped ensure the safety of the American people by empowering DHS law enforcement to do their jobs.”

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “The American people & I are SO happy with the work President Trump has done the last 100 days! Our nation is safer, common sense has been restored, and America is being put first!”

    Rep. Glenn Grothman: “In his first 100 days, President Trump delivered more for the American people than Joe Biden had in four years. He’s keeping his promises, prioritizing American interests, securing our border, and leading with transparency. In the House, we’re building on that momentum to deliver real results that honor the American people’s electoral mandate.”

    Rep. Brett Guthrie: “Today marks the first 100 days of President Trump’s Administration. @POTUS has delivered on his promises of securing our border, unleashing American energy and repealing burdensome red tape. Promises made, promises kept.”

    Rep. Harriet Hageman: “In his first 100 days, President Trump has fixed a lot of what Biden and Kamala Harris broke and he’s on track to do a lot more.”

    Rep. Abe Hamadeh: “Promises made. Promises kept. Congratulations to @POTUS on an incredibly successful First 100 Days!”

    Rep. Mike Haridopolos: “President Trump is keeping the promises that he made to the American people. Just 100 days in, we’re already seeing the RESULTS.”

    Rep. Pat Harrigan: “100 days in, the Trump Doctrine holds firm: American interests first, American sovereignty always.”

    Rep. Mark Harris: “It’s been 100 days of:
    ✅Restoring common sense
    ✅Protecting Americans from criminal illegals
    ✅Rooting out government waste, fraud, and abuse
    Looking forward to the next 1361 days!!”

    Rep. Diana Harshbarger: “100 days of investing in America… Promises Made, Promises Kept.”

    Rep. Kevin Hern: “The last 100 days have gone by quickly but so much has happened. POTUS is moving at record pace to RESTORE American strength, SAVE taxpayers’ money, and PROTECT our national security and sovereignty.”

    Rep. Clay Higgins: “100 days of MAGA. President Trump’s administration is restoring common sense, securing our border, unleashing America’s energy potential, and attacking waste, fraud, abuse, and theft in the bureaucracy.”

    Rep. Ashley Hinson: “Closing in on 100 days of President Trump back in the Oval, and the results speak for themselves: strong and CLOSED borders, American energy back on top, peace through strength restored on the world stage, and a more competitive America. Promises made, promises kept.”

    Rep. French Hill: “100 days into his second term, and President Trump continues to move with unprecedented speed to deliver on the promises made to the American people. America is back on the path to restoring our strength, security, and prosperity. I’m looking forward to building on these early wins to lower costs, expand opportunity, and make the Trump tax cuts permanent for working families, small businesses, and the middle class.”

    Rep. Erin Houchin: “President Trump is off to a strong start! In just 100 days, he’s delivering on his promises to secure our border, rebuild our economy, and restore law and order. Proud to stand with him as we fight to put America First again!”

    Rep. Bill Huizenga: “President Trump is delivering on promise after promise for the American people. In just 100 days, he has secured our border, unleashed American energy, and restored common-sense regulatory policies to Washington. And we are just getting started!”

    Rep. Wesley Hunt: “100 Days in and Trump is keeping his promises.
    – 345,000 New Jobs
    – 4th highest Payroll Growth in 2 years
    – 9,000 New Manufacturing Jobs
    – Unemployment Rate Decreased
    – Consumer Price Decline
    – Hourly Wage Growth”

    Rep. Jeff Hurd: “I commend @POTUS and @HouseGOP for delivering on key promises in the first 100 days:
    ✅ Establishing energy dominance for rural America
    ✅ Securing our borders with a significant drop in illegal crossings
    ✅ Reviving the coal industry and identifying coal resources on federal lands”

    Rep. Darrell Issa: “In only 100 days, @realDonaldTrump ended the Biden border crisis, extended economic opportunity, slashed billions in government waste, and restored our standing in the world. This is setting the pace for the next four years as we Make America Great Again.”

    Rep. Jim Jordan: “President Trump said he’d stop federal censorship, defend religious liberty, and promote school choice. He’s done all of it. Promises made. Promises kept.”

    Rep. Mike Kelly: “In just his first 100 days, President Trump has:
    – Cracked down on illegal immigration – Compared to March 2024, Southwest border apprehensions have decreased by 94% and Northern border land encounters have decreased by 73%.
    – Expanded American energy production
    – Secured trillions of dollars in new U.S.-based economic investment
    – Brought jobs back to the U.S. and restructured trade negotiations
    – Restored accountability and transparency in government
    – Secured the release of Butler County native Marc Fogel and freed hostages

    @POTUS and @HouseGOP are putting America first!”

    Rep. Trent Kelly: “Today marks the 100th day in office for President Donald Trump. During this time, the Trump administration has made significant progress and worked quickly to fulfill his promises by securing the border, restoring energy independence, strengthening national defense, and boosting American competitiveness.”

    Rep. Brad Knott: “Never have the first 100 days of a presidency been so consequential. Following four years of disastrous and destructive policy from Biden-Harris, Americans were eager to see big, sweeping change and @POTUS delivered.”

    Rep. David Kustoff: “President Trump Has Kept His Promises in the First 100 Days!
    1. Strengthened border security, slashing illegal crossings to record lows 🚓
    2. Fueled growth in U.S. manufacturing and industrial production 🏭
    3. Curbed inflation, easing the cost-of-living crisis for Americans 💸
    4. Enacted the Laken Riley Act to ensure justice for crime victims ⚖️
    5. Combatted Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs in American communities 🚨
    6. Cracked down on sanctuary cities, upholding federal immigration laws 🔒
    7. Championed energy independence through robust oil and gas expansion ⛽️
    8. Lifted the natural gas export ban, cementing U.S. energy dominance 🛢️
    9. Dismantled DEI policies in government and DoD, recognized only male/female genders 🚻
    10. Declassified JFK and RFK records for transparency 📂
    11. Reduced the amount of federal bureaucracy 🏛️”

    Rep. Darin LaHood: “President Trump’s first 100 days have secured our border, made our communities safer, and put U.S. foreign adversaries on notice.”

    Rep. Doug LaMalfa: “In just 100 days, President Trump has delivered the most secure border this country has seen in modern history. Illegal crossings are down 95%, gotaways have dropped by 99%, and catch-and-release is over. Over 139,000 illegal immigrants have been deported, construction on the border wall is back underway, and Kamala Harris’ migrant app has been shut down for good. Violent gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 are being dismantled, sanctuary cities are finally being held accountable, and the Trump administration is making clear that migrant crime will not be ignored — signing the Laken Riley Act into law to deliver justice for American families. Promises made, promises kept.”

    Rep. Bob Latta: “Today marks @POTUS’s first 100 days in office. From day one, he has prioritized the American people, working to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. Proud to work with
    @HouseGOP and President Trump to make life better for people in Ohio and across the country. Promises made, promises kept.”

    Rep. Nick Langworthy: “100 days of President Trump putting America First… and we are just getting started.”

    Rep. Laurel Lee: “In his first 100 days in office, President Trump is driving the American dream forward at a historic rate by securing American manufacturing, unleashing American energy, and supporting American-owned businesses.”

    Rep. Julia Letlow: “In 100 days President Trump has: reduced illegal border encounters by 95%, reduced total migrant crossings by nearly 100%, ended the Biden Border Crisis.”

    Rep. Barry Loudermilk: “Marking 100 days into his presidency, @POTUS continues to deliver on his promises to Make America Great Again.
    • 26 hostages freed from adversarial nations
    • Women’s sports protected
    • Unleashing the American worker and industry
    • $5 trillion in new investments/trade commitments secured
    All we needed was a different President.”

    Rep. Anna Paulina Luna: “In 100 days, President Trump has: Secured our border, declassified the JFK+RFK files, deported thousands of illegal alien thugs, protected American manufacturing & workers, started eliminating rampant waste, fraud, and abuse, crushed DEI in academia & business.”

    Rep. Morgan Luttrell: “President Trump is ushering in a Golden Age of America.

    ✅ 100k+ illegal aliens deported
    ✅ Gas prices down
    ✅ Border crossings down 94%
    ✅ Eggs down 56%
    ✅ 228,000 jobs in March”

    Rep. Nancy Mace: “100 days of holding the line. Thank you President Donald J. Trump.”

    Rep. Tracey Mann: “On Inauguration Day, President Trump promised he would usher in the Golden Age of America. 100 days into his historic second term, he is delivering just that for the American people. Promises made, promises kept.”

    Rep. Brian Mast: “Today marks 100 days of President Trump’s historic second term. We’re closing the border, bringing investments and manufacturing back to America, and reducing inflation. But we’re just getting started.”

    Rep. Nicolle Malliotakis: “From securing our border and deporting criminals to attracting trillions in private investment to negotiating the release of dozens of hostages, it’s been a fast & furious first 100 days!”

    Rep. Michael McCaul: “The American people gave a mandate to secure the border, and
    @POTUS delivered. Today, on his 100th day in office, @HomelandGOP is working to fully fund his border security agenda & protect the homeland for years to come.”

    Rep. Addison McDowell: “During President Trump’s first hundred days, the Coast Guard has defended our maritime border and stood on the front lines against illegal drugs and migrants. President Trump has made it clear—their hard work matters, and it won’t go unnoticed.”

    Rep. John McGuire: “President Trump promised a secure border. In his first 100 days, border encounters are down 95%.”

    Rep. Mark Messmer: “In just 100 days, @POTUS is restoring American Greatness with…
    ✅ Secure borders
    ✅ Energy independence
    ✅ Lower grocery prices
    ✅ Peace through strength”

    Rep. Dan Meuser: “In just 100 days President @realDonaldTrump has worked to strengthen our national security, create an America-First economy, deliver savings for taxpayers, restore global leadership, and bring commonsense back to Washington. The border is secure, American energy is recovering, jobs are coming back, inflation is falling, and our military recruitment is surging — among much more. President Trump has a plan that will lead to long-term success for the United States.”

    Rep. Mary Miller: “As we reach the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, it is abundantly clear: Christians across America once again have a powerful, unapologetic advocate in the Oval Office.”

    Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks: “Today marks 100 days since @POTUS returned to the White House, and @HouseGOP is hard at work delivering on his America First agenda!”

    Rep. Riley Moore: “It’s been an incredible first 100 days for @POTUS
    ✅ Sealed the border
    ✅ Deporting violent criminals
    ✅ Lowering prices & reversing inflation
    ✅ Only 2 genders
    ✅ Over $5 trillion in private investment
    ✅ Negotiating free and fair trade relationships
    Commonsense is back!”

    Rep. Tim Moore: “Since Day 1, President Trump has made it clear that rebuilding Western North Carolina and helping Hurricane Helene victims was one of his top priorities. 100 days in, there’s still a lot of work to do, but President Trump has completely turned around the federal response.”

    Rep. Nathaniel Moran: “Great visiting with local and national media to highlight @POTUS successes during his first 100 days in office. We’ve delivered real results as a party—but there’s still more work to do for the American people. I look forward to advancing President Trump’s agenda in the days ahead and keeping our commitment to putting America First.”

    Rep. Troy Nehls: “Today marks President Trump’s first 100 days back in the White House.
    Border is secured.
    Gas prices are dropping.
    DEI is dead.
    Historic investments secured.
    American energy is back.
    Common sense is restored.
    Protected women’s sports.
    We just keep winning!”

    Rep. Ralph Norman: “Within a mere 100 days – Gas prices have dropped 7%, energy prices are down 2%, egg prices dropped over 50%. @POTUS has delivered for the American people!! Welcome to the GOLDEN AGE!”

    Rep. Zach Nunn: “After 100 days of Biden: 451,063 CBP Apprehensions
    After 100 days of Trump: 21,528 CBP Apprehensions
    ⬇️ Apprehensions down 95%
    ⬇️ Migrant crossings down 99.99%
    ✅ Iowa communities safer & more secure”

    Rep. Andy Ogles: “It’s working — thanks to President Trump, ‘Made in Middle Tennessee’ is back and stronger than ever.”

    Rep. Burgess Owens: “President @realDonaldTrump brought back something Washington had lost: America First leadership. 100 Days of historic and unprecedented wings for our nation. Promises made. Promises kept. us”

    Rep. Gary Palmer: “In his first 100 days, President Trump has brought common sense back to the White House.”

    Rep. Jimmy Patronis: “Since @POTUS took office and reversed Biden’s burdensome regulations, Americans have enjoyed 100 days of lower prices.
    📉A/Cs
    📉Gas Stoves
    📉Water Heaters
    📉Lightbulbs
    📈WINNING
    Having a strong quarterback in the White House matters; and it’s just the first quarter”

    Rep. August Pfluger: “The first 100 days have set the foundation, the next 100 days will build the framework, and the next 100 years will showcase the lasting legacy of conservative governance done right.”

    Rep. Guy Reschenthaler: “100 days of American greatness — and many more to come”

    Rep. Hal Rogers: “Celebrating @POTUS ‘s first 100 days in office and the positive impact he is having in our country, including: 
    -Securing our borders
    -Putting drug cartels on the run
    -Ending unfair trade policies
    -Restoring commonsense, conservative policies that protect the American people
    -Strengthening our domestic energy supply, and much more.”

    Rep. Mike Rogers: “President Trump has accomplished more in 100 days than Biden did in his entire presidency. I am proud to see an America that is stronger and safer than it was 100 days ago.”

    Rep. John Rose: “In just 100 days, President Trump and his administration have accomplished more than Joe Biden did in four years.”

    Rep. David Rouzer: “President Trump is ushering in a new Golden Age of America!
    ✅ Restarted construction of the southern border wall
    ✅ Created 345,000 jobs
    ✅ Unlocked America’s Energy potential—bringing gas prices down 6.3%
    ✅ Reversed Biden-era rules – saving the average family of four $11,000
    ✅ Ended DEI in the military and government”

    Rep. Mike Rulli: “100 Days of Action. 100 Days of Results.
    President Trump is keeping his promises to the American people:
    🛑 Secured the border & ended catch-and-release
    🧱 Restarted the wall & deported criminal illegals
    ⚡ Declared a National Energy Emergency
    💸 Slashed waste, fraud & DEI bloat
    🏗️ Bringing jobs back through smarter trade”

    Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar: “Biden left us an open border. Now, border crossings are down 99 percent, criminals are being held accountable, and American manufacturing is coming back. It’s only the beginning.”

    Rep. Derek Schmidt: “✅ Secured the border
    ✅ Lowered inflation
    ✅ Unleashed American energy
    ✅ Eliminated waste, fraud, & abuse
    ✅ Reestablished peace through strength
    @POTUS’ first 100 days have been success after success- and he’s just getting started. us”

    Rep. Keith Self: “President Trump’s first 100 days embody the spirit of leadership, strength, and America First values. By upholding Reagan’s legacy of peace through strength, he fights to secure our nation and defend our freedoms. Thank you, @realDonaldTrump!”

    Rep. Jefferson Shreve: “Today, we mark 100 days of promises made and promises kept. .@HouseGOP
     and the @WhiteHouse  have been delivering — for the American people.

    ✅Securing our southern border
    ✅Unleashing American energy dominance
    ✅Deporting terrorists and illegal criminals
    ✅Investing in American manufacturing
    ✅Saving billions of dollars for the American taxpayers”

    Rep. Mike Simpson: “100 Days: @POTUS has delivered promise after promise to make America safer, more prosperous, and stronger. From securing our southern border to reducing regulations and restoring government transparency, President Trump has followed through for the American people.”

    Rep. Jason Smith: “President Trump’s first 100 days in office have been 100 days of promises made, promises kept.”

    Rep. Lloyd Smucker: “Promises made, promises kept. I’m proud to work alongside the Trump administration to extend tax relief for hardworking families and small businesses, cut government waste, secure our border, unleash American energy dominance, and achieve peace through strength.”

    Rep. Pete Stauber: “In his first 100 days, President Trump has delivered major wins for the American people:
    ✅Secured the border.
    ✅Deported violent illegal gang members.
    ✅Unleashed American energy and lowered gas prices.
    ✅Reduced government waste.
    ✅Protected women’s sports.
    ✅Boosted military recruitment.
    ✅Brought hostages home.
    Promises made, promises kept!”

    Rep. Greg Steube: “They laughed. They doubted. They lied. But President Trump DELIVERED. The border is secure. DEI is DEAD. Women’s sports are protected. This is what fighting for America looks like. And we’re just getting started.”

    Rep. Dale Strong: “In his first 100 days, @POTUS has delivered real results for the people of North Alabama. From strengthening national security to fueling job growth and reinvigorating American industry, Trump is taking action to push back against the failed policies of the radical left that weakened America’s economy, values, and institutions.”

    Rep. Dave Taylor: “President Trump is on a roll. In his first 100 days in office he has:
    – Lowered border encounters by 95%
    – Created 345,000 jobs
    – Signed the Laken Riley Act into law
    – Invested in American energy & manufacturing
    – Repealed restrictive Biden-era regulations
    Republicans are ready to work with President Trump to deliver on his mandate. And we’re just getting started!”

    Rep. Claudia Tenney: “President Trump has had a more productive first 100 days than any other president in history!”

    Rep. Tom Tiffany: “President Trump delivered in just 100 days.
    Secured the border.
    Lowered gas prices.
    Ended DEI programs.
    Boosted investments.
    Cut government waste.
    Brought hostages home.
    Deported gang members.
    Protected women’s sports.
    Revived military recruitment.
    Promises made. Promises kept.”

    Rep. Glenn Thompson: “Over the past 100 days, President Trump has worked tirelessly to secure our border, unleash American energy, and root out waste, fraud, and abuse in our government. Promises made, promises kept.”

    Rep. William Timmons: “President Trump did more in 100 days than Joe Biden did in four years.”

    Rep. Jeff Van Drew: “In just 100 days, President Trump did what Biden wouldn’t in four years:
    ✅ Laken Riley Act: signed
    ✅ Remain in Mexico: reinstated
    ✅ CBP One App: shut down
    ✅ Catch and Release: ended
    ✅ Criminal illegals: deported
    Biden opened the floodgates and Trump slammed them shut.”

    Rep. Beth Van Duyne: “100 days in and we are not tired of winning!
    ✅ Secured the border.
    ✅ $5+ trillion in new private U.S. investment
    ✅ Unleashed American Energy
    ✅ Lowered prices
    ✅ Negotiating for free and fair trade”

    Rep. Derrick Van Orden: “Over 77 million Americans and 1.7 million Wisconsinites put their trust in President Trump to get our nation back on track after four years of disastrous policy from the Biden administration. In just 100 days, President Trump has delivered on his promises to the American people.”

    Rep. Tim Walberg: “100 days in, Trump creating new Golden Age.”

    Rep. Randy Weber: “President Trump has been in office 100 GREAT days. Thank you for finally putting Americans FIRST. A new era of greatness has begun for our great country.”

    Rep. Daniel Webster: “President Trump is getting our country back on track. In just the first 100 days, @POTUS:
    ✅ Secured the border – 94% drop in illegal crossings.
    ✅ Unleashed American energy – gas prices have fallen 6.3%.
    ✅ Secured trillions in new U.S. based investments, and brought back American jobs.
    ✅ Restored peace through Strength.
    ✅ Cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.
    The Golden Age of America has only just begun.”

    Rep. Tony Wied: “100 days of a secure border, 100 days of eliminating waste in our government, 100 days of unleashing American energy, 100 days of putting America First.”

    Rep. Roger Williams: “In just 100 days under @POTUS, Illegal border encounters are DOWN by 95% and gotaways are DOWN by 99%.”

    Rep. Joe Wilson: “Today marks 100 days since President Donald Trump took back the White House, and along with the Republican-led House and Senate, immediately began Promises Made, Promises Kept, delivering for American families. In just 100 days, the Trump administration has secured the borders, restored energy independence, began Peace Through Strength, and brought massive investments and jobs, making America competitive again. President Trump is keeping his promises to families, making the country strong, safe, and secure.”

    Rep. Steve Womack: “In the first 100 days, @POTUS Trump has delivered huge wins for our nation, securing our borders and halting the surge of illegal crossings witnessed under Biden. National security begins with strong border policies, and I’m pleased to see this administration making it a top priority.”

    Rep. Rudy Yakym: “100 days of promises made, promises kept
    ✅Illegal border crossings down 95%
    ✅Deporting violent criminals
    ✅Bringing dozens of hostages home
    ✅Restoring peace through strength
    ✅Unleashing American energy”

    Rep. Ryan Zinke: “First 100 days of @POTUS by the numbers:
    📉Border encounters down 88% since last year
    📉Gas Prices down 6.3%
    📉Eggs prices down 56%
    📈10,000 new manufacturing jobs
    📈 8,900 new auto jobs
    ➡️ over 100,000 illegal aliens deported”

    Vice President JD Vance: “President Trump has made historic progress in the first 100 days of his presidency, but he’s also revealed the ways in which the entrenched bureaucracy in Washington is working to undermine the will of the American people. Thank God, we have a president who is fighting back.”

    Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent: “Bringing down persistent Bidenflation has been a priority for the first 100 days of the Trump administration, and @POTUS has done a great job of leading that effort.”

    Attorney General Pam Bondi: “This is all at Donald Trump’s directive, and this is what all of us have been doing, as a team, since Day One when he took office – Make America Safe Again.”

    Secretary of Energy Doug Burgum: “100 Days of promises made, promises kept! This administration is bolstering our national security, reducing inflation, ending our reliance on foreign adversaries, & cementing this country as a global energy powerhouse.”

    Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins: “The first 100 days of the second Trump Administration have been full of great news for America’s Veterans. Under @POTUS’ leadership, we are putting Veterans first!”

    Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer: “In just the first 100 days, we’re witnessing a resurgence of the grit, determination, and ingenuity that built our country into a shining city on a hill.”

    Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy: “From zero to 100 days: How Donald Trump is revolutionizing transportation.”

    Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: “President Trump’s first 100 days have delivered historic change for the American people, to make our country more safe, secure, and free.”

    Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: “The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been historic—a critical course correction for a nation suffering from chronic disease and the stranglehold of corporate power.”

    Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler: “No better place to celebrate the wins of President Trump’s first 100 Days than with America’s small businesses and workers. In record time, he’s delivering the strongest pro-growth agenda in modern history– to help Main Street hire, build, and boom again.”

    Secretary of Education Linda McMahon: “The American people gave us a historic mandate to restore our education system. We’re 100 days in, and we’re just getting started.”

    Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem: “Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, we have the most secure border in American history. In less than 100 days, daily border encounters are down 93%… The world is hearing our message: do not come to this country illegally. If you do, we will arrest you, deport you and you will not be allowed to return.”

    Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins: “As President Donald J. Trump ushers in a new golden age of prosperity for our economy, we are fighting to give farmers and ranchers a seat at the table. For far too long, the hardworking Americans who feed, fuel, and clothe the world were left on the sidelines. At USDA, I am reversing the policies of the Biden Administration that actively made life harder for America’s farmers and ranchers and instead pushing to expand market access and unleash prosperity for generations to come.”

    Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner: “After 100 Days of President Trump’s leadership, we are well on our way to restoring the American Dream.”

    National Security Advisor Mike Waltz: “One hundred days into President Trump’s historic second term, America is far safer than it was during Joe Biden’s disastrous presidency.”

    Secretary of Energy Chris Wright: “100 days in—President Trump’s leadership is turning policy into power.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: New Zealand: New Independent Information and Debate Platform PodTalk.Live calls for Foundation Members

    Source: NewzEngine.com

    After a successful beta-launch in April PodTalk.live is now ready to invite people in New Zealand to register as foundation members. Foundation members are free to join the post and podcast social platform.

    The Foundation Membership soft-launch is a great opportunity for founders to help shape a brand new, vibrant, algorithm-free, info discussion and debate social platform.

    Developer of the platform, Selwyn Manning said: “PodTalk.live has been put to test by selected individuals and we are pleased to report that it has performed fabulously.”

    Manning is founder and managing director of the company that custom-developed PodTalk.live – Multimedia Investments Ltd (MIL: milnz.co.nz).

    MIL is based in New Zealand, where PodTalk.live was developed and is served from.

    And now, PodTalk.live has emerged from its Beta stage and is ready for foundation members to shape the next phase of its development.

    About PodTalk.Live:

    PodTalk.live was designed to be an alternative platform to other social media platforms. PodTalk has all the functions that most social media platforms have but has placed the user-experience at the centre of its backend design and engineering.

    PodTalk.live has been custom-designed, created and is served from New Zealand.

    “We ourselves became annoyed at how social media giants use algorithms to drive what content their users see and experience. And, we also were appalled at how some social media companies trade user data, and were unresponsive to user-concerns” Selwyn Manning said.

    “So we decided to create a platform that focuses on ‘discussion and debate’ communities, and we have engineered PodTalk to ensure the content that users see is what they choose – rather than some obscure algorithm making that decision for them.

    “PodTalk.live is independent from other social media platforms, and at best will become an alternative choice for people who seek a community where they are the centre of a platform’s core purpose.

    “And today, we invite people to sign up now and become foundation members of this new and ethically-based social community platform,” Selwyn Manning said.

    PodTalk.live provides:

    • user profiles with full interactivities with other users and friends
    • user created groups, posts, video, images, polls, and file sharing
    • private and secure one-on-one (and group) messages
    • availability of all the above for entry users with a free membership
    • premium membership for podcasters and event publishers requiring easy to use podcast publication and syndication services
    • next-level community engagement tools that users all on the one platform.

    In addition, PodTalk.live will host:

    • Live audio and video webcasts with special guests and member talkback events
    • premium video and audio podcasts (on-demand and live)
    • premium posts on big issues from prominent writers
    • featured documentaries on interesting and important topics.

    Security Safety Moderation:

    Security and safety has been baked into PodTalk’s function and culture. And at PodTalk, free-speech is welcomed but hate speech is rejected.

    “With PodTalk, we recognise that many people, wherever they live, require security and at times anonymity so to avoid reprisals from authorities and other actors,” Selwyn Manning said.

    “Along with a strong focus on security, and guidance on how to remain anonymous when necessary, we have built robust member-moderation into the core of PodTalk to ensure users are in control of their experience.”

    “PodTalk has robust moderation tools so that members can easily block and report those who they feel disrupt their experience,” Selwyn Manning said.

    And now, we invite all who seek an information, discussion and debating community to register as foundation members.

    To do so, simply go to: https://PodTalk.Live and register. Once on the platform, members can familiarise themselves with what PodTalk.Live has to offer, and begin to create their own online community experience.

    “We are working on audio-to-text multi-language translation+transcription tools, and will soon push the boundaries of cutting edge on-platform communication tools,” Selwyn Manning said.

    The platform already has cutting edge tech, also smart community and premium publishing tools – including an invitation tool so you can invite your friends and grow your community.

    PodTalk.live is founded on the belief that for social, political and economical progress to occur people need to discuss issues in a safe environment and embark on robust debate.

    Register free as a founder. Check out the platform. See you there…

    – Published by MIL OSI in partnership with NewzEngine.com

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Money Market Operations as on April 29, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India
    (Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)
      Volume
    (One Leg)    		 Weighted
    Average Rate    		 Range
    A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV) 6,14,702.89 5.85 0.01-6.30
         I. Call Money 16,789.55 5.90 4.95-6.10
         II. Triparty Repo 4,07,447.80 5.85 5.73-6.20
         III. Market Repo 1,88,703.54 5.84 0.01-6.30
         IV. Repo in Corporate Bond 1,762.00 5.96 5.95-6.00
    B. Term Segment      
         I. Notice Money** 1,323.74 5.81 5.35-5.95
         II. Term Money@@ 110.00 – 6.10-6.10
         III. Triparty Repo 9,594.00 6.04 5.90-6.25
         IV. Market Repo 125.00 3.50 3.50-3.50
         V. Repo in Corporate Bond 9.00 6.25 6.25-6.25
      Auction Date Tenor (Days) Maturity Date Amount Current Rate /
    Cut off Rate
    C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) & Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)
    I. Today’s Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo Tue, 29/04/2025 1 Wed, 30/04/2025 5,901.00 6.01
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (III) Long Term Operations^          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF# Tue, 29/04/2025 1 Wed, 30/04/2025 716.00 6.25
    4. SDFΔ# Tue, 29/04/2025 1 Wed, 30/04/2025 1,21,701.00 5.75
    5. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*       -1,15,084.00  
    II. Outstanding Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (III) Long Term Operations^          
         (a) Repo Thu, 17/04/2025 43 Fri, 30/05/2025 25,731.00 6.01
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF#          
    4. SDFΔ#          
    D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI$       8,709.21  
    E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     34,440.21  
    F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -80,643.79  
    G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks
         (i) Cash balances with RBI as on April 29, 2025 9,53,154.22  
         (ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending May 02, 2025 9,51,938.00  
    H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on¥ April 29, 2025 5,901.00  
    I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on April 04, 2025 2,36,088.00  
    @ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
    – Not Applicable / No Transaction.
    ** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.
    @@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.
    $ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.
    & As per the Press Release No. 2019-2020/1900 dated February 06, 2020.
    Δ As per the Press Release No. 2022-2023/41 dated April 08, 2022.
    * Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo-SDF.
    ¥ As per the Press Release No. 2014-2015/1971 dated March 19, 2015.
    # As per the Press Release No. 2023-2024/1548 dated December 27, 2023.
    ^ As per the Press Release No. 2025-2026/91 dated April 11, 2025.
    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    
    Press Release: 2025-2026/212

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Chris Swasbrook appointed as Chair of Te Papa

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Chris Swasbrook has been appointed as Chair of the Te Papa Board says Chris Bishop, Acting Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

    “Chris Swasbrook is a prominent New Zealand investor with more than 25 years’ experience working in finance. He has an extensive resume in executive and governance roles in many large-scale New Zealand businesses and organisations,” Mr Bishop says.

    “Born in Auckland, he has been a long-time supporter of local business and arts communities. Chris is Chair of the Auckland Future Fund and an Inaugural Member and current Chair of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki Advisory Committee – roles which have shown his commitment to thriving arts infrastructure in New Zealand.

    “Chris will bring valuable commercial, financial and investment governance experience to Te Papa. His strategic insights and international perspective will undoubtedly prove valuable to our national museum.

    “I would like to thank Jackie Lloyd who has stepped up as acting Chair following the departure of Hon Dame Fran Wilde. Both Jackie and Dame Fran have made immense contributions to the leadership of Te Papa which have enhanced the museum’s standing on the world stage.”

    Media contact: Mikaela Bossley Clark: +64 21 275 0454

    Biography:

    Chris Swasbrook has more than 25 years’ experience in stockbroking and funds management. He is currently Managing Director of Elevation Capital and Co-Founder and Director of NZX-listed New Zealand Rural Land Company. He is also Chair of the Auckland Future Fund, Executive Chair of McCashin’s Brewery, a board member of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and member of the NZX Listing Sub-Committee.

    Mr Swasbrook is also an Inaugural Member and current Chair of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki Advisory Committee.

    He was previously a partner at Goldman Sachs, JBWere, and was Chair of Allied Farmers, Chair of Bethunes Investments, Director of NZX-listed Mowbray Collectables, Director of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts and Director of NZX-listed Satara Co-Operative Group.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall: President Trump’s First 100 Days Have Been Some of the Most Consequential in American History

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall
    Washington – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) delivered a speech on the Senate floor today recapping President Donald Trump’s historic first 100 days of his second administration.
    [embedded content]
    Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full speech.
    Highlights from Senator Marshall’s speech include:
    On the return to American greatness:
    “This week, we honor and celebrate the 100th day of our 47th president, Donald J. Trump… As I searched over the last week to think about the words to describe these first 100 days, I think of the word consequential, that these first 100 days have been some of the most consequential we’ve ever seen in American history.
    “… it’s exciting for me to see an 11-point surge in optimism in this country [since] January of this year alone. But to sum it up, what I’ve seen in these first 100 days is a return to American greatness… And I think I see this theme of promises made and promises kept by this president.”
    On President Trump securing the border:
    “President Trump campaigned to secure our border. That was his top priority: to secure our border. And think about what’s happened since he was sworn in. Under Joe Biden, we saw on days 10,000 people crossing our border illegally. Some days, it was 11,000, but under President Trump, we’re now averaging less than 300 of those border crossings a day. We went from 10,000 a day to 300 in a day. That’s a promise made and a promise kept. 
    “President Trump also campaigned that he would make your family safer and more secure. And to that end, he’s deported 130,000 violent criminal aliens. And as I travel the state [of Kansas] and talk to law enforcement officers… they tell me that the number of violent crimes is down, the fentanyl poisoning is down. Indeed, the president’s plan of securing our border has led to the health and safety of our families.”
    On President Trump rolling back regulations, lowering gas prices:
    “President Trump promised that he’d roll back regulations. To that end, of his [over] 135 executive orders, many have done just that, cutting red tape and saving American families some $2,000 each. Another promise made and another promise kept.
    “President Trump said we’re going to ‘drill, baby, drill,’ one of my favorite expressions from his campaign, ‘drill, baby drill.’ And indeed, America, once again, is drilling, and we’ve seen gasoline prices drop across America. It was common just a couple years ago under Joe Biden to see gasoline at over $4 a gallon today. All across the state of Kansas, it’s averaging under $2.60 a gallon. So it’s dropped from $4 to $2.60 a gallon. That’s a promise made, and a promise kept.” 
    On President Trump being the American first president:
    “Well, what about groceries, you asked? Last month we saw the smallest increase in the consumer price index since the spring of 2020. Since COVID, since the start of COVID. This is the smallest increase in grocery prices that we’ve seen. 
    “Now, it would take 30 minutes, maybe an hour, for me to talk about all the things that President Trump has accomplished in these first 100 days, but I want to just highlight a few more. He’s terminated the EV mandate. He slowed the green energy transition. He’s ended boys in girls’ sports. Under DOGE, he’s cut over $100 billion, saving American taxpayers’ money. He got America out of the World Health Organization, out of the Paris Climate Agreement, establishing, once again, that he’s an American first president.”
    On President Trump bringing back jobs to America:
    “But one thing I’m really excited about is this economic boom that we’re starting to see, that President Trump talks about the $7 trillion of investment into America that has been promised, and so much of that is going to lead to good paying manufacturing jobs, jobs with benefits, and that we’re seeing that already across the state of Kansas.
    “These last two weeks, I was very purposeful visiting several of our manufacturing companies, probably a dozen of them… each one was describing the increase in sales that they’re having, a big increase in the number of products that are wanted in the future. Why? Because they’re American-made, because they’re using American steel and American aluminum. And I think that that’s what we can do with this Trump economy, is that his tariffs are bringing those manufacturing jobs back to this country, and indeed, they’re great jobs.”
    On the Dow Jones Industrial Average:
    “You know, much has been made about the stock market the last week or two. But I think that this, this chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past 100 years, is another sign of American greatness. 
    “You know, there’s been days which aren’t as good, but the trend here is what? It’s upward. And you look at just the last several days, the last week here, there’s a small little blip here, a very small blip, but in relationship to what? I would remind Americans that the Dow today is up 5% compared to a year ago, the NASDAQ is up almost 10% compared to a year ago. The trend is the right way. And I don’t know about you, but I’m betting on America. 
    “We’ve had five days in a row now the Dow Jones increasing in value – that’s the longest winning streak we’ve seen in almost a year. And who knows, maybe today will be the sixth day where we’ve seen the Dow go up as well. But to me, this stock market, is another example of American greatness, and I wouldn’t bet against us.”
    On the American Dream being alive and well:
    “My belief is that President Trump has declared the apology tour is over with – that we’re boldly putting America and Americans first. Gone is the despair of the Biden era. Today, families are safer, life is more affordable, and traditional family values are now thriving.
    “Young Americans now have a renewed hope that they can chase their own American dream. That dream was gone the last four or five years, but today, the American dream is alive and well. What’s that American dream look like? Raising a family, owning a home, and building a brighter future. And I think a lot of this is due to President Trump’s leadership, because he’s delivering strength, prosperity, and opportunity to Americans. Again, 100 days, promises made, promises kept.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons condemns President Trump’s disastrous first 100 days in speech on Senate floor

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) delivered a floor speech tonight criticizing President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, describing a period marked by weakened global alliances, harsh cuts to foreign aid, and an overhaul of key federal agencies. 
    Today marks the 100th day of President Trump’s second term, and Senator Coons’ early review of his presidency is that he has made Americans less prosperous and less secure, both at home and abroad. Trump has disrupted long-standing diplomatic relationships and global partnerships by recklessly imposing tariffs on nearly every country and asserting that he will take over Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal. Our closest allies and partners have responded with unease and outright resistance. In his speech, Senator Coons remarked on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s victory in Canada’s national election yesterday, an outcome viewed as a rejection of Trump’s policies. 
    He also expressed concern over the administration’s dismantling of foreign aid and health programs, warning that it makes Americans less safe and creates an opportunity for our adversaries like China. Additionally, Senator Coons highlighted his visit to Taiwan this month to bolster U.S.-Taiwan relations and stand against China’s attempts to limit Taiwan’s role on the global stage. 
    Senator Coons also called for Congress to reassert its constitutional responsibilities as Trump pushes the boundaries of executive power. 
    A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ comments are available below.
    WATCH HERE
    Senator Coons: In a hundred days – in a hundred days – what can a president accomplish?
    The last hundred days, President Trump has made Americans less safe, less prosperous, and less free.
    He has chosen to move us in a direction at home and abroad that is the opposite of what those who voted for him expected, and that is aligned with what those of us who worked against him feared. 
    What I’ve heard my whole life, whether in business or in foreign policy, as a lawyer or in my community as a local elected official – folks need trust, and they need predictability. Businesses say they need predictability in order to decide what to invest in, who to hire, where to grow. Other countries around the world say that they need to know they can trust us, that they can rely on us. And in the last hundred days, President Trump has shattered both of them. I’m going to speak for a few minutes about foreign policy because so many of my colleagues in my caucus have stood to talk about the disastrous cuts led by Elon Musk and DOGE, and the ways they’ve impacted Americans all over the country. 
    But if you think about our reputation globally –statement after statement, tweet after tweet by President Trump has puzzled, concerned, even alarmed our allies. He’s going to invade Greenland, a NATO ally. He’s going to take back the Panama Canal. He’s going to take over the Gaza Strip and make it ‘Mar-a-Gaza.’ He’s going to turn Canada into the 51st State. One of my Republican colleagues said, ‘don’t pay so much attention to what he says, look what he does.’ Well, lots of our partners and allies looked at what he has done by imposing tariffs on allies and partners, and recoiled. 
    In an election in Canada last night, where Trump was the issue, [they] elected a new prime minister, Mark Carney, who ran on a platform of standing up to America, of standing up to Donald Trump. Look, folks, the actions he’s taken, in slashing foreign aid, in abandoning decades-old bipartisan programs around the world that save lives, and that help other countries to trust and rely on us, have weakened us abroad and created openings for our pacing threat – the People’s Republic of China. I was recently in the Philippines, a nation that faces more natural disasters than any country on Earth – more typhoons, more earthquakes, more volcanoes. And for decades, they’ve relied on the United States and the help of USAID, volunteers, nonprofits – coordinated through our government – to respond to these disasters. It has built a long and close partnership of trust. Gone. 
    I was recently in Taiwan, a country looking to decide whether they can rely on us should China make real their threats to reunite Taiwan with the mainland by force. Can they trust us? Well, what I’m going to say is that in a hundred days, President Trump has shown weakness in Europe and created openings for China. We have long relied on a global network of allies and partners to keep us safe and strong, to make us prosperous, and to build our role in the world. China doesn’t have that. They have nervous neighbors and client states, countries that can’t count on them and view them as predatory. Yet, now through the actions of President Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE, and the silence and collaboration of Republicans in this chamber, even our closest, most trusted allies, like Canada, question whether they can count on us. 
    Back to the Reagan days, Republicans have talked about ‘peace through strength.’ What we’ve seen from Donald Trump in a hundred days: ‘weakness through chaos.’ A hundred days in, he’s not stopping Putin, he’s preparing to sell out Ukraine and Europe to Putin. A hundred days in, he’s not deterring Xi Jinping––he’s backing down every time he says he’s going to stand up to him. At the end of the day, these first hundred days have shown that we are weaker. The world is less stable. Americans are less safe.
    And I have to say, Madam President, a hundred days is more than enough time for my Republican colleagues to have seen enough, to stand up to this president, and to restore the role of this Senate and return our position of strength to the world. Thank you. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. Announces Purchase of Two Megawatts of AI Data Center Infrastructure

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) (“DMG” or the “Company”), a vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, announces it has signed a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) for two megawatts of Prefabricated Data Center (“PDC”) infrastructure for a confidential consideration with the same undisclosed counterparty (“Counterparty”) with which it has an MOU signed in February 2025 to purchase 10 megawatts of PDC infrastructure.

    This asset purchase payment is in lieu of the previously disclosed US$5M upfront payment with the balance of the to-be-agreed-upon price based on future DMG revenue resulting from artificial intelligence (AI) computing off-take agreements. The Company intends to move the two megawatts of purchased PDC units to either its Christina Lake data center, Malahat Nation lands and/or a temporary storage location in the coming months. DMG intends to acquire the remaining available PDC infrastructure under the original 10-megawatt MOU terms.

    Since the signing of the MOU, DMG has made progress with respect to engaging Canadian government entities and enterprises for off-take agreements. DMG has up to 180 days to demonstrate progress towards reaching off-take agreements to maintain its exclusivity towards closing a definitive agreement to acquire the balance of the available PDC units. DMG will issue an additional news release related to the final structure and terms of the potential transaction, and other material information if and when it becomes available.

    DMG intends to deploy the PDC units at one or more locations, as the PDC infrastructure can be partitioned into smaller units due to its modular nature. While the infrastructure forms the basis for an AI data center, it does not include medium-voltage power distribution, battery storage or backup power generation, the configuration and amount of which have yet to be determined. Additionally, the PDC is not facilitated with computing, networking nor storage systems, all of which will need to be installed to realize revenue from potential AI off-take agreements.

    DMG’s CEO Sheldon Bennett stated, “This purchase gives us the foundational capacity to begin moving forward on our AI infrastructure strategy and is appropriately sized, as we believe it is likely that Canadian Sovereign and Private AI installations are likely to start modest in size compared to the large US hyperscalers. Owning this infrastructure gives a unique time to market advantage, which is critical as Canadian government and enterprise entities scramble to protect themselves against international geopolitical forces beyond their control. We also believe this purchase is the most capital efficient way for which we can begin to build a critical mass of AI infrastructure, helping us to maximize our return to shareholders.”

    DMG Operational Update

    In line with prior guidance, DMG has energized approximately two megawatts of additional hydro mining capacity and has reached 2.0 EH/s hashrate. It expects to energize the remaining two megawatt balance of its 6 megawatt hydro mining deployment plan in the coming week and reach 2.1 EH/s. As the increasing network difficulty has resulted in decreased profitability and the Company has observed heat sensitivity for its Bitmain T21 fleet, DMG may choose to downclock at least a portion of its fleet, which may result in a net fleet hashrate modestly below 2.1 EH/s.

    Systemic Trust Company Update

    DMG announces that Alvin Leung has been appointed as the acting Chief Executive Officer of Systemic Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of DMG, with effect as of April 25, 2025. The Company accepted Lawrence Truong’s resignation as Chief Executive Officer and as a director of System Trust Company.

    About DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.

    DMG is a publicly traded and vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company that manages, operates and develops end-to-end digital solutions to monetize the digital asset and artificial intelligence compute ecosystems. Systemic Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of DMG, is an integral component of DMG’s carbon-neutral Bitcoin ecosystem, which enables financial institutions to move bitcoin in a sustainable and regulatory-compliant manner.

    For more information on DMG Blockchain Solutions visit: www.dmgblockchain.com
    Follow @dmgblockchain on X and subscribe to DMG’s YouTube channel.

    For further information, please contact:

    On behalf of the Board of Directors,

    Sheldon Bennett, CEO & Director
    Tel: +1 (778) 300-5406
    Email: investors@dmgblockchain.com
    Web: www.dmgblockchain.com

    For Investor Relations:
    investors@dmgblockchain.com

    For Media Inquiries:
    Chantelle Borrelli
    Head of Communications
    chantelle@dmgblockchain.com

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

    This news release contains forward-looking information or statements based on current expectations. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include the execution of a definitive agreement for the PDC and the timing thereof, the expected benefits and outcomes of the PDC including the potential AI computing off-take agreements, adding computing, networking and storage systems to the PDC infrastructure, all of which will need to be installed to realize revenue from potential AI off-take agreements, energize the remaining two megawatt balance of its 6 megawatt hydro mining, increase hashrate subject to any potential downclocking at least a portion of its fleet, the Company’s strategy for growth, the planned monetization of certain product and service offerings, developing and executing on the Company’s products, services and business plans, the launch of products and services, events, courses of action, and the potential of the Company’s technology and operations, among others, are all forward-looking information.

    Future changes in the Bitcoin network-wide mining difficulty or Bitcoin hashrate may materially affect the future performance of DMG’s production of bitcoin, and future operating results could also be materially affected by the price of bitcoin and an increase in hashrate and mining difficulty.

    Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe” and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, market and other conditions, volatility in the trading price of the common shares of the Company, business, economic and capital market conditions; the ability to manage operating expenses, which may adversely affect the Company’s financial condition; the ability to remain competitive as other better financed competitors develop and release competitive products; regulatory uncertainties; access to equipment; market conditions and the demand and pricing for products; the demand and pricing of bitcoin; security threats, including a loss/theft of DMG’s bitcoin; DMG’s relationships with its customers, distributors and business partners; the inability to add more power to DMG’s facilities; DMG’s ability to successfully define, design and release new products in a timely manner that meet customers’ needs; the ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; competition in the industry; the impact of technology changes on the products and industry; failure to develop new and innovative products; the ability to successfully maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights and defend third-party claims of infringement of their intellectual property rights; the impact of intellectual property litigation that could materially and adversely affect the business; the ability to manage working capital; and the dependence on key personnel. DMG may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, the ability to successfully develop software, that there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business, anticipated costs, the ability to secure sufficient capital to complete its business plans, the ability to achieve goals and the price of bitcoin. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The securities of DMG are considered highly speculative due to the nature of DMG’s business. For further information concerning these and other risks and uncertainties, refer to the Company’s filings on www.sedarplus.ca. In addition, DMG’s past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance.

    Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, failure to obtain regulatory approval, the continued availability of capital and financing, equipment failures, lack of supply of equipment, power and infrastructure, failure to obtain any permits required to operate the business, the impact of technology changes on the industry, the impact of viruses and diseases on the Company’s ability to operate, secure equipment, and hire personnel, competition, security threats including stolen bitcoin from DMG or its customers, consumer sentiment towards DMG’s products, services and blockchain technology generally, failure to develop new and innovative products, litigation, adverse weather or climate events, increase in operating costs, increase in equipment and labor costs, equipment failures, decrease in the price of Bitcoin, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of or statements made by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Development Asia: Rethinking Personal Income Taxation in Asia and the Pacific: Future Directions

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    Personal income taxes remain weak in the developing countries of the region. Several factors have contributed to this weakness, including a rapidly changing economic environment. Traditional approaches to taxation, focused mainly on corporate tax incentives to attract foreign direct investment and layers of sometimes overlapping and poorly structured sales and international trade taxes, have failed to capture growing sources of personal income or address the gaps in the distribution of income and wealth.

    The weaknesses in tax policy are compounded by shortcomings in tax and customs administration. Labor forces characterized by widespread informality, a lack of a culture of tax compliance, and weak governance structures undermine the collection of revenues, especially of the personal income tax. Even when they can identify required reforms, tax and customs administrations often lack the political independence to implement them.

    Reform of the region’s personal income taxes presents an opportunity to bolster revenues and help address income and wealth inequality. A well-structured personal income tax system with broad bases and moderate and internationally competitive rates can facilitate higher growth and much-needed revenue to fund government spending. A progressive personal income tax (i.e., where the average tax rate rises with higher income) can contribute to the reduction of income and wealth inequality, especially when supported by adequate spending on human capacity development.

    The region has made significant, though widely varying efforts, to improve tax and customs administrations in recent years, including through institutional reorganization of tax administrations on a functional basis, better coordination between tax and customs administrations, and the creation of large taxpayer units. Countries in the region have focused on automating their systems, strengthening training and staff quality, and improving legal systems that underpin tax enforcement.

    In the region, improvements in the structure and administration of the personal income tax have facilitated sensible reforms of corporate income and broad-based sales taxes while allowing continued reduction of reliance on international trade taxes. In recent decades in the Asia and Pacific region, there has been some increase in reliance on personal income taxes, but the growth has been uneven and insufficient (Figure 1). In the region as a whole but excluding certain key countries, fiscal policies have contributed to some narrowing of income and wealth gaps (Figure 2).

    Figure 1: Tax Revenue by Source Comparison 2017-2021 to 2002-2006

    Notes: Appendix 1 in the original paper provides the economies by region. Data for the People’s Republic of China and India are missing. Data for East Asia include only Mongolia in 2006; thus, the comparison is limited. Table A1.2 in the original paper lists the economies by region. The percentage change in tax revenue by source compares each tax type’s average share of total tax revenue over two periods: 2002–2006 and 2017–2022.
    Source: OECD. Global Revenue Statistics Database (accessed 31 August 2024).

    Figure 2: Change in Market Gini Coefficients over Time in the Asia and Pacific Subregions

    Source: Standardized World Income Inequality Database Version 9.7 (accessed December 2023).

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Is your child anxious about going on school camp? Here are 4 ways to prepare

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Micah Boerma, Researcher, School of Psychology and Wellbeing, University of Southern Queensland

    Nitinai Thabthong/Shutterstock

    One of the highlights of the school year is an overnight excursion or school camp. These can happen as early as Year 3.

    While many students are very excited about the chance to go away with their classmates, some may experience anxiety and even fear about being away from home and their usual routines.

    Anxiety disorders are the second most common mental disorder among children and adolescents in Australia. One in 14 young people are affected.

    Separation anxiety (fear or dread about being separated from caregivers) is the most common anxiety disorder amongst young people in Australia. This affects about 4% of young people aged four to 17. Students with anxiety may refuse to attend the camp. Or they may go and not participate in activities or have periods of intense anxiety.

    While these trips are a small part of a young person’s school year, positive and negative experiences can form important beliefs about their self-confidence and independence.

    Here are four ways to prepare your anxious child to attend and enjoy camp.

    1. Understand the anxieties

    Anxiety isn’t a one-size-fits-all condition. For one child, it may be the fear of not fitting in or the dread of being homesick. For another, it may be the fear of being away from parents, believing something bad will happen.

    So the first step is to really listen to a child about their anxietty.
    Asking open-ended questions, such as “what is the one thing about going to camp that worries you most?” can help to determine their core fear.

    When they tell you, avoid jumping in quickly to reassure them they “will be fine”. This can feel dismissive and invalidate their concerns.

    Instead, reflect what you hear so they feel understood. For example, “I hear you a really worried about what it will be like to spend the night away from us. You’ve never done this before.”

    Ask your child what they are worried about. Maybe it’s a certain activity on camp.
    Andrew Angelov/Shutterstock

    2. Understand the ‘cycle of avoidance’

    Anxious people tend to overestimate the likelihood of something terrible happening and underestimate their ability to cope if it occurred.

    When a young person sidesteps something scary, they feel initial relief. But this avoidance prevents them from learning the feared situation may not be as dangerous as think. Importantly, they do not get the opportunity to test their coping skills and build confidence. This inadvertently increases their anxiety.

    It can help to talk to your child about how avoiding camp might feel better in the short term but it makes fun activities – such as sleepovers or trips – harder in the future.

    4. Build the ‘bravery muscle’

    You also might want to talk about how you can build the “bravery muscle”.

    This involves gradually exposing a child to their fears and building confidence in their ability to cope. This way fears lose their power.

    Start with easier tasks. For example, if the main worry is “something bad will happen to mum and dad if I am not with them at night”, start with your child staying with a grandparent while you go out for dinner. Then you could try staying overnight at a grandparent or a trusted friend’s house.

    You can also pair these tasks with coping tools. Your child could do a breathing exercise or a grounding excercise, where they focus on things around them, rather than the thoughts and feelings distressing them.

    When organising these tasks, it is crucial parents acknowledge the distress their child might experience, while communicating their confidence the child can do it.

    Celebrate every effort and task completed, no matter how small.

    You could prepare for camp with a sleepover somewhere else.
    NataliyaBack/Shutterstock

    4. Make a plan with school

    Parents and caregivers are not in this alone. So make sure you talk to your class teacher or year group leader if you haven’t already. Some helpful tips are:

    • organise a “camp buddy” for the bus ride or to share a tent/room with

    • organise a “go-to” teacher for your child to gain support from during camp

    • access information about the accommodation and activities as soon as possible so you can practice. This could include your child camping in a tent with a friend, bike riding, or bush walking.

    It’s not expected the steps above will erase your child’s anxiety entirely – that is not realistic. But they can give them coping tools to face their anxiety and come out the other side stronger. School camps can be an exciting experience where a young person may discover they are braver than they thought.

    Micah Boerma does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Is your child anxious about going on school camp? Here are 4 ways to prepare – https://theconversation.com/is-your-child-anxious-about-going-on-school-camp-here-are-4-ways-to-prepare-252290

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Palau Establishes Steering Committee to Guide Passport Digitalization

    Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

    Ngerekebesang, Palau – The Government of Palau, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and with support from the Government of Japan, has launched its first official meeting under the Enhancing Border Management Capacity through the Introduction of an E-Passport for the Republic of Palau project.

    Launched at the Embassy of Japan in Ngerekebesang on 18 April 2025., the project marks a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to align Palauan passports with international good practices to augment security of the passport issuance system. This shift will not only protect Palauan passport holders from identity theft but also ensure seamless access to passport application for all citizens.

    The meeting convened key stakeholders including Gustav Aitaro, Minister of State, Hiroyuki Orikasa, Ambassador of Japan to Palau, senior officials from the Ministry of State, Finance, Justice and the Judiciary Branch along with representatives from IOM and the Embassy of Japan.

    The USD 4.5 million initiative, funded by the Government of Japan, will transition Palauan passports to electronic, machine-readable passports (e-MRPs) that feature embedded biometric data, significantly improving security and global compatibility. Over the next three years, the project will digitalize Palau’s passport application and issuance systems and introduce new technologies and infrastructure to strengthen the country’s identity management capacity.

    In his opening remarks, Minister Aitaro, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening travel document integrity and enhancing service delivery to Palauan citizens.

    Ambassador Orikasa emphasized Japan’s strong partnership with Palau in building effective border systems.

    Salvatore Sortino, IOM Chief of Mission for Micronesia, highlighted the project’s potential to improve travel convenience, reduce identity fraud, and strengthen regional security.

    A key outcome of the meeting was the formal establishment of the Project Steering Committee, which will provide strategic oversight and ensure inter-agency coordination throughout the life of the project. Chaired by the Minister of State, the Committee comprises senior representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Judiciary Branch, and Embassy of Japan (as an observer), with IOM serving as the Secretariat.

    The E-Passport Project is a timely intervention that responds to the evolving mobility needs of Palauans and the realities of international travel in a post-pandemic world. It represents a major step forward in strengthening Palau’s border infrastructure and expanding access to secure, reliable travel documents for all its citizens. The members of the Steering Committee will meet again in August to review project progress.

    ***

    For more information, please contact at IOM Micronesia: Yohan Senarath at ysenarath@iom.int in Palau or Haimanot Abebe at haabebe@iom.int, +691 320 8735 in the Federated States of Micronesia

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 30, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 30, 2025.

    Locked up for life? Unpacking South Australia’s new child sex crime laws
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Criminologist, CQUniversity Australia Melnikov Dmitriy/Shutterstock It’s election time, which means the age old “tough on crime” rhetoric is being heralded by many politicians aiming to score votes. Opposition leader Peter Dutton is pushing for a national public sex offender register. Currently only Western Australia has

    Why do dogs eat poo? A canine scientist explains
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mia Cobb, Research Fellow, Animal Welfare Science Centre, The University of Melbourne nygi/Unsplash When miniature dachshund Valerie was captured after 529 days alone in the wilds of Australia’s Kangaroo Island, experts speculated she survived partly by eating other animals’ poo. While this survival tactic may have saved

    On ‘moral panic’ and the courage to speak – the West’s silence on Gaza
    Palestinians do not have the luxury to allow Western moral panic to have its say or impact. Not caving in to this panic is one small, but important, step in building a global Palestine network that is urgently needed, writes Dr Ilan Pappé ANALYSIS: By Ilan Pappé Responses in the Western world to the genocide

    Sick of eating the same things? 5 ways to boost your nutrition and keep meals interesting and healthy
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle Loquellano/Pexels Did you start 2025 with a promise to eat better but didn’t quite get there? Or maybe you want to branch out from making the same meal every week or the same lunch for work

    Peace in our time? Why NZ should resist Trump’s one-sided plan for Ukraine
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago GettyImages Getty Images Is it possible to reconcile increased international support for Ukraine with Donald Trump’s plan to end the war? At their recent meeting in London, Christopher Luxon and his British counterpart Keir Starmer seemed to

    ‘A living collective’: study shows trees synchronise electrical signals during a solar eclipse
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monica Gagliano, Research Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology, Southern Cross University Zenit Arti Audiovisive Earth’s cycles of light and dark profoundly affect billions of organisms. Events such as solar eclipses are known to bring about marked shifts in animals, but do they have the same effect on

    Greenpeace slams deep sea mining bid as ‘rogue’ disregard for global law
    By Reza Azam Greenpeace has condemned an announcement by The Metals Company to submit the first application to commercially mine the seabed. “The first application to commercially mine the seabed will be remembered as an act of total disregard for international law and scientific consensus,” said Greenpeace International senior campaigner Louisa Casson. “This unilateral US

    State of the states: the campaign is almost over, so how has it played out across Australia?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney While many Australians have already voted at pre-poll stations and by post, the politicking continues right up until May 3. So what’s happened across the country over the past five weeks? Here, six experts analyse how

    ‘No compassion… just blame’: how weight stigma in maternity care harms larger-bodied women and their babies
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Briony Hill, Deputy Head, Health and Social Care Unit and Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Kate Cashin Photography According to a study from the United States, women experience weight stigma in maternity care at almost every visit. We expect this experience to be similar in Australia, where

    Renewables, coal or nuclear? This election, your generation’s energy preference may play a surprising role
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magnus Söderberg, Professor & Director, Centre for Applied Energy Economics and Policy Research, Griffith University Christie Cooper/Shutterstock In an otherwise unremarkable election campaign, the major parties are promising sharply different energy blueprints for Australia. Labor is pitching a high-renewables future powered largely by wind, solar, hydroelectricity and

    Trump says diversity initiatives undermine merit. Decades of research show this is flawed
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula McDonald, Professor of Work and Organisation, Queensland University of Technology Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock US President Donald Trump declared earlier this year he would forge a “colour blind and merit-based society”. His executive order was part of a broader policy directing the US military, federal agencies and other public

    Housing affordability is at the centre of this election, yet two major reforms seem all but off-limits
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Garrow, Editorial Web Developer This federal election, both major parties have offered a “grab bag” of policy fixes for Australia’s stubborn housing affordability crisis. But there are still two big policy elephants in the room, which neither side wants to touch. The first is negative gearing.

    The Vietnam War ended 50 years ago today, yet films about the conflict still struggle to capture its complexities
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scarlette Nhi Do, Sessional Academic, The University of Melbourne Scene from Apocalypse Now (1979) Prime Video The Vietnam War (1955–1975) was more than just a chapter in the Cold War. For some, it was supposed to achieve Vietnam’s right to self-determination. For others, it was an attempt

    Willis warns of a ‘tight’ budget to come, but NZ should be going for productivity, not austerity
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Wesselbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Otago Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images Finance Minister Nicola Willis has warned her 2025 “Growth Budget” will be “one of the tightest budgets in a decade”, with plans to reduce spending by billions. It’s clear New Zealand is following a

    50 years after the ‘fall’ of Saigon – from triumph to Trump
    30 April 1975. Saigon Fell, Vietnam Rose. The story of Vietnam after the US fled the country is not a fairy tale, it is not a one-dimensional parable of resurrection, of liberation from oppression, of joy for all — but there is a great deal to celebrate. After over a century of brutal colonial oppression

    Labor maintains clear lead in all polls and is likely to win election
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Labor leads by between 52–48 and 53–47 in four new national polls from Resolve, Essential, Morgan and DemosAU. While Labor’s vote slumped from a high 55.5–44.5 in

    Election Diary: Albanese will be encouraged by ‘Trump’ effect in helping Canadian Liberals to victory
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Labor will be encouraged by the Liberals’ victory in Canada’s election, undoubtedly much helped by US President Donald Trump. Trump’s extraordinary attack on the United States’ northern ally, with his repeated suggestion Canada should be the 51st American state, galvanised

    French Minister Valls warns New Caledonia is ‘on a tightrope’, pleads for ‘innovative’ solutions
    By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, who is visiting New Caledonia this week for the third time in two months, has once again called on all parties to live up to their responsibilities in order to make a new political agreement possible. Failing that, he said

    Did ‘induced atmospheric vibration’ cause blackouts in Europe? An electrical engineer explains the phenomenon
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian, Professor of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology The lights are mostly back on in Spain, Portugal and southern France after a widespread blackout on Monday. The blackout caused chaos for tens of millions of people. It shut down traffic lights and

    Tarakinikini appointed as Fiji’s ambassador-designate to Israel
    By Anish Chand in Suva Filipo Tarakinikini has been appointed as Fiji’s Ambassador-designate to Israel. This has been stated on two official X, formerly Twitter, handle posts overnight. “#Fiji is determined to deepen its relations with #Israel as Fiji’s Ambassador-designate to Israel, HE Ambassador @AFTarakinikini prepares to present his credentials on 28 April, 2025,” stated

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Markey, Huffman, Fitzpatrick Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect the Arctic Refuge

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
    Washington (April 29, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), today reintroduced the Arctic Refuge Protection Act, legislation that will restore critical protections to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—the nation’s largest national wildlife refuge—by designating the Coastal Plain ecosystem as wilderness under the National Wilderness Preservation System. This legislation would permanently halt any new oil and gas leasing, exploration, development, and drilling on the Coastal Plain, and would safeguard the subsistence rights of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples who depend upon the Arctic Refuge.
    “Trump’s reopening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas is another attempt to revive his old and failed promise of a fictional financial windfall from leasing the Refuge—all to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. The urgency to protect the wilderness of the Coastal Plain and the Refuge more broadly and reaffirm the sovereignty of Arctic Indigenous peoples is paramount—my Arctic Refuge Protection Act would do just that,” said Senator Markey. “We must put a law on the books to affirm these lands are not for sale and defend the Arctic landscape—a sacred home for Indigenous peoples, including the Gwich’in and Inupait—from Trump’s disastrous business plan.”
    “What we choose to protect says everything about who we are. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is too special to destroy, and we have a responsibility to keep it that way,” said Ranking Member Huffman. “The Refuge is one of the last truly wild places left on the planet — home to caribou herds, polar bears, migratory birds, and breathtaking landscapes. But it’s more than that. It’s about standing with the Gwich’in people, who’ve spent generations protecting this land, living with the caribou herds, and preserving a way of life that predates the fossil fuel industry by thousands of years and continues to this day. Now, President Trump wants to turn the Arctic Refuge into a corporate cash grab, a place where oil companies could frack up the tundra while trampling tribal sovereignty and leaving Americans with nothing but spills and broken promises. This land belongs to the American people and to the Gwich’in, not to Big Oil.”
    “Protecting the Arctic Refuge is not only an environmental imperative—it’s a strategic one. This land holds immense ecological value, cultural significance, and climate importance. Reckless development would endanger wildlife, violate Indigenous rights, and yield little economic return. As Co-Chair of the World Wildlife, Oceanic, Environmental and Biodiversity Caucus, I’m proud to support this legislation to protect one of America’s last wild frontiers—because conservation is not a cost, it’s a long-term investment in our security, economy, and planet,” said Representative Fitzpatrick.
    “The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a pristine, million-year-old ecosystem unlike anything else we have in the United States, which is why it should be permanently protected,” said Senator Cantwell. “The future of the Arctic is in tourism, and with new sea routes opening up the real value of this land is conservation, not exploitation.”
    “The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of our country’s most unique and beautiful areas of land. We must work with our indigenous communities to protect our wildlife, and the environment put at risk by oil and gas development in this spectacular refuge. Rather than catering to the interests of the oil companies, we must focus our efforts on diversifying our energy sources with renewable energy and prevent further harm to the environment,” said Senator Schiff.
    “We commend our congressional champions for taking a stand to protect one of America’s last great wild places. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain is not only a sanctuary for wildlife—it is sacred land for the Gwich’in and a symbol of our nation’s commitment to conservation. Selling off this land for oil and gas is not only destructive, it’s bad economics. The last Arctic Refuge lease sale was a failure, proving there is no real demand—only a handout to billion-dollar corporations at the expense of taxpayers. This legislation is a crucial step in permanently protecting this irreplaceable landscape from exploitation. Now, more than ever, Congress must prioritize our public lands and Indigenous rights by restoring protections to the Arctic Refuge and ensuring this land remains unexploited for generations to come,” said Kristen Miller, Executive Director, Alaska Wilderness League.
    “We applaud the leadership of Sen. Markey and Reps. Huffman and Fitzpatrick for reintroducing the Arctic Refuge Protection Act,” said Mary Glaves, Alaska Coordinator for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “For hunters and anglers, the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain is the birth place of wild pursuits of caribou, waterfowl, and iconic fish species including Dolly Varden and Arctic Char. The abysmal interest in both the 2020 and 2025 lease sales demonstrates the bad economics of drilling in the Arctic Refuge. The wetlands and rivers weave together one of the last truly wild landscapes that are essential for the North American heritage of hunting and fishing and subsistence for local Alaskan communities. The Arctic Refuge is a national treasure that should be protected as such through a wilderness designation.”
    “The Arctic Refuge is no place for drilling. It is a sanctuary for caribou, musk oxen, polar bears, wolves, and other wildlife. The Arctic Refuge Protection Act is a clear acknowledgment of that fact. Even the biggest players in the oil industry recognized that drilling in the Refuge was an absurd proposition when they failed to show up for recent lease sales,” said Alexandra Adams, Chief Policy Advocacy Officer at NRDC. “This bill would end an ongoing threat to this treasured place by forever barring industrialization of the Refuge.”
    Background
    The Arctic Refuge is one of the last truly wild places left in America. The Coastal Plain is the calving ground of the Porcupine caribou herd, the source of the Indigenous Gwich’in people’s way of life and subsistence for generations. It also provides a critical denning habitat for threatened Southern Beaufort Sea populations of polar bears. Oil and gas exploration, seismic testing, and all of the infrastructure that comes with oil drilling – from roads to pipelines to pumpjacks – would threaten polar bears in their dens, disrupt caribou and bird migration patterns, and result in significant and irreversible harm to the unique Arctic Refuge habitat and the Indigenous communities who depend on it.
    For the Gwich’in people, who refer to the Coastal Plain as “Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit” or the Sacred Place Where Life Begins, this land is more than wildlife habitat. It is cultural identity, food security, and a foundation for traditions that span millennia into the current day. The caribou herd is central to their traditions and survival, and industrial development in the region threatens not just an ecosystem, but an entire way of life. The Gwich’in, which span across Alaska and Canada, have been united in their opposition to drilling in the Refuge for decades and have called on the federal government to uphold its trust responsibilities and protect these lands permanently.
    Developing the Refuge’s unproven oil and gas reserves would also pose a serious danger to the climate, locking in decades of emissions in a region already warming four times faster than the global average.
    For decades, the Refuge’s coastal plain has been targeted for highly speculative oil and gas drilling. In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act established an oil and gas leasing program along with a requirement that the Department of the Interior conduct two lease sales in the coastal plain before the end of 2024. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate at the time, these lease sales would result in $1.82 billion in revenue over 10 years. Seven years later, those projections have proven wildly inaccurate.
    The first lease sale brought in only $14.4 million in bids on 11 tracts, a far cry from the nearly $2 billion in estimated revenue. Major oil companies didn’t participate in the sale, and most major financial institutions have pledged not to finance drilling there. The most recent lease sale in January of this year generated no interest. Despite the lack of interest or activity, the risk of development and drilling in the Arctic Refuge remains.
    On his first day in office, President Trump restarted the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and reinstated seven leases from the state development corporation, which were previously canceled by the Biden administration. Congressional Republicans may once again use oil and gas leasing to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, despite its catastrophic failure to raise revenue in 2017.
    The Senate bill is cosponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
    The House bill is cosponsored by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Madeline Dean (D-Pa.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.), George Latimer (D-N.Y.), Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Dave Min (D-Calif.), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).
    The bill was endorsed by National Audubon Society, Gwich’in Steering Committee, Alaska Wilderness League, Trustees for Alaska, The Wilderness Society, League of Conservation Voters, Defenders of Wildlife, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, World Wildlife Fund, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Environment America.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China draws foreign investment as ‘oasis of certainty’

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    BEIJING, April 29 — In an increasingly unpredictable global environment, China is becoming an “oasis of certainty” as it continues to build up industrial strength and foster institutional opening-up, drawing influential foreign investors from tech giants to automakers into the world’s second-largest economy.

    Latest data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland in actual use climbed by 13.2 percent year on year last month. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, 12,603 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.3 percent.

    ANCHOR FOR GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH

    At a petrochemical plant rising a hundred meters from the ground, the sounds of welding, cutting and roaring interweave … The over 80 billion yuan (about 11 billion U.S. dollars) cooperation project co-invested by Saudi oil giant Aramco and Chinese enterprises in Panjin, northeastern Liaoning Province, has progressed to more than 60 percent.

    Aramco is currently investing in projects in China that have a collective and total value of over 240 billion yuan, covering petrochemical projects and equity acquisition deals. “China is already the world’s largest consumer and producer of petrochemicals, accounting for nearly half of global demand,” said Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of the company. He noted, “China is becoming an oasis of certainty in an increasingly unpredictable global environment.”

    Since the start of this year, more and more foreign brands from various sectors have beefed up investment in China, leveraging its super-large market advantage. For example, fast fashion brand Zara opened its Asian flagship store in Nanjing, while U.S. hair care brand Aveda opened its first store in south China in Guangzhou. German retail giant ALDI entered China’s Jiangsu market.

    Besides a vast market size, China’s crucial role in fueling world economic growth has been harnessed by solid economic fundamentals and a stable policy framework, according to foreign institutions.

    China’s gross domestic product registered a 5.4 percent year-on-year growth in Q1. This expectation-beating performance is attributed to the fact that it has increased fiscal spending, vigorously boosted consumption, and introduced a series of measures to stabilize the property market and the stock market, Nathan Chow, senior economist at DBS Bank said.

    The stable growth momentum in China’s economy is stability that serves as an important global public good, helping to buffer uncertainties across international markets, said Bernd Einmeier, president of the German-Chinese Association for Economy, Education, and Culture.

    According to the 2025 Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, which measures investor expectations for FDI over the next three years, China has led all emerging markets for three consecutive years. The market is expected to become a “stabilizer” for business confidence worldwide, with its steady growth, open attitude and innovative vitality, said He Xiaoqing, president of Kearney Greater China.

    INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH, INNOVATION DRIVE

    Industry experts believe China’s industrial strength and innovation drive have become key factors drawing foreign investment. At the same time, its market solidifies its crucial role in the integrated development of global industries, contributing to economic growth.

    During an earlier business trip to China, Apple’s COO, Jeff Williams, visited the company’s supplier, Goertek, in east China’s Shandong Province and praised its automated manufacturing and artificial intelligence technology on the production lines. Among the company’s top 200 suppliers worldwide, more than 80 percent have factories in China engaging in related businesses.

    China’s ability to integrate industrial chains is almost irreplaceable on a global scale, whether in terms of engineer supply, industrial supporting capabilities, or scale advantages, noted Xing Ziqiang, chief economist at Morgan Stanley China.

    This has attracted more and more foreign investment into the global manufacturing powerhouse and innovation hub, with Toyota committing to a 14.6-billion yuan strategic cooperation agreement in Shanghai, and AstraZeneca signing a landmark agreement to invest 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in a global strategic research and development center in Beijing.

    In Rugao City in east China’s Jiangsu Province, welding robots are busy on the production lines of Swedish truckmaker Scania. “The Scania Rugao Industrial Hub, the most advanced and sustainable in Scania’s world, will add significant capacity to Scania’s global production system, easing previous bottlenecks and benefiting both the Chinese and global markets,” said Ruthger de Vries, president of Scania Industrial Operations Asia.

    INSTITUTIONAL OPENING-UP ACCELERATES

    Translating its opening-up pledge into concrete actions, China’s growing economic openness spanning various sectors has further cemented its position as the world’s second-largest FDI destination.

    While all restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector were removed in China last year, the country has now extended its opening-up efforts to the service sector. China approved value-added telecommunications business operations of 13 foreign-funded enterprises in Q1, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

    The number of foreign-invested telecommunications enterprises surged 26.5 percent from a year earlier and topped 2,400 in China at the end of last month. Over 40 foreign-funded biotechnology projects have kicked off, and three new wholly foreign-owned hospitals have been approved for operation by late March, according to the country’s commerce ministry.

    The constant opening-up in China’s service sector has brought new development opportunities to foreign-funded enterprises and injected confidence into deepening the Chinese market, said Jacqueline Jiang, chair of the Chinese mainland at John Swire & Sons. Last month, a subsidiary of the group obtained the first foreign-owned cardiovascular specialty hospital practice license in China.

    In the financial sector, an increasing number of foreign financial institutions have cast a vote of confidence in China by establishing new securities entities and expanding the scope of their existing businesses in recent years, with the latest move by UBS increasing its equity stake in UBS Securities from 67 percent to 100 percent.

    Despite deficits in service trade, China seeks to further open sectors like medical and internet services in a well-conceived way. Pilot opening-up programs in free trade zones and select cities have been accelerated, with wholly foreign-owned hospitals now allowed in certain areas. According to the MIIT, China seeks to remove restrictions on the percentage of foreign capital for service businesses such as app stores and internet access in certain regions.

    “In China, foreign companies can invest here because they find a good business environment, and those investments are also long-term and not only short-term,” said Maximilian Butek, executive director and board member of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, the east China region.

    “We have a strong business commitment here in China,” he added.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: In Response to Questioning by Sen. Murray, Top Watchdog Says It’s Opened 39 Impoundment Investigations

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    At hearing on FY26 budget requests for GAO, CBO, GPO, Murray asks about Trump impoundment investigations, Republicans’ reconciliation bill
    GAO Comptroller General says OMB has not been cooperative
    ***WATCH: Senator Murray’s questioning***
    Washington, D.C. — Today—at a Senate Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee hearing to review the FY26 budget requests for the Government Accountability Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the Government Publishing Office—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, asked Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) about the status of the agency’s work investigating this administration’s impoundment of funding approved by Congress.
    [IMPOUNDMENT INVESTIGATIONS]
    Senator Murray stated: “You know, from day one, President Trump has unilaterally frozen or contravened critical funding provided in our bipartisan laws. Those actions by Trump and Russ Vought have really wreaked havoc for families and communities across the country. That is really not what the Constitution envisioned. Congress has the power of the purse—period. Our Presidents cannot pick and choose which parts of a law that they can follow.”
    She then asked Mr. Dorado, “You have testified that GAO is investigating the Trump Administration’s efforts to block federal funds as potential violations of the Impoundment Control Act. What is the status of those investigations?”
    Dorado replied: “We have right now 39 different investigations underway. We’re trying to get the information from the agencies about what their legal position is for not expending the money. I’m looking forward to what I understand to be a submission by the administration as a recission package, which would fall in the Impoundment Control Act, so we’ll look at that. We’re monitoring all the litigation surrounding these areas that we’re investigating in. Only three agencies, so far have given us the information that we need. OMB has not been responsive, nor EPA. A number of other agencies are due to get us information this week or next week. So, I would imagine starting next month after we look to see what is in the recission package.” (Dodaro later clarified in response to a separate question that only two agencies have been responsive.)
    “Next month as in May?” Senator Murray inquired.
    Dorado responded in part: “Yes. …. They won’t all come at once. They’ll come as we collect and analyze all the information.”
    “What options do you have if you don’t get timely, responsive information from the federal agencies?” Senator Murray followed up.
    “Well, we’ll have to make decisions on our own based upon the available information. Some of it will be in the lawsuit filings that we’re following right now—and then we’ll have to go forward doing this,” Dorado responded, in part.
    [REPUBLICANS RECONCILIATION BILL + MEDICAID CUTS]
    Senator Murray then discussed Republicans’ reconciliation package, stating: “Republicans are, as you know, moving full speed ahead with the reconciliation package, promising to deliver more than $5.3 trillion in new tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations. And at the same time, some Republicans have promised that Medicaid – which is a lifeline for our kids and seniors – is safe. But the reality is: Republicans can’t keep both these promises.”
    She asked Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), about how the math works out, “The Republican reconciliation instructions direct $880 billion in cuts within the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP,” said Senator Murray. “You responded to a question from House Ranking Member Brendan Boyle and Frank Pallone in March regarding spending within the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction, excluding Medicare—which Republicans say is off the table. In your response, you said over 10 years, Medicaid outlays will account for 93% of baseline budget projections for Energy and Commerce, is that correct?”
    “Yes, that is correct,” said Swagel.
    “And if you add in CHIP, is it fair to say you are now talking north of 95%?” Murray followed up.
    Swagel confirmed, “That’s right. Once you take out Medicaid and CHIP there is only $381 billion still in the current baseline.”
    Senator Murray reiterated: “So looking at table 1 in that March 5th letter, is it fair to say the remainder is nowhere close to that $880 billion?”
    “That’s correct in the letter that we sent to Mr. Boyle and Mr. Pallone, the dollars after Medicare, Medicare, and CHIP are much smaller than the instruction.” Swagel responded.
    “Okay, so for the record, I just want to say it would appear to me to be impossible for Energy and Commerce – the committee with jurisdiction– to reach the spending cuts required under the Republican reconciliation instructions without cutting Medicaid, or putting Medicare back on the table,” Murray concluded.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Orca Energy Group Inc. Announces 2024 Year End Audited Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Orca Energy Group Inc. (“Orca” or “the Company” and includes its subsidiaries and affiliates) (TSX-V: ORC.A, ORC.B) today announced its audited financial results for the fourth quarter (“Q4 2024“) and year ended December 31, 2024. All dollar amounts are in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.

    • Revenue increased by 51% for Q4 2024 and by 1% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the same prior year periods. Certain volumes were supplied as Protected Gas (defined below) prior to July 31, 2024. After the termination of Protected Gas after July 31, 2024, those volumes were instead supplied as Additional Gas (defined below). These volumes, which were delivered to Songas Limited (“Songas“) in August, September and October 2024 and for which the Company did not receive compensation, have not been recognized in revenue in 2024. These unrecognized gross revenues include 80.5% of sales to Songas in the amount of $6.2 million.
    • On October 30, 2024, PanAfrican Energy Tanzania Limited (“PAET”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, was advised by Songas that the Interim Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) between Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (“TANESCO“) and Songas would expire on October 31, 2024, and that it was unknown if a new PPA would be entered into. At midnight on October 31, 2024 Songas shut down the Songas Power Plant. In the event that a new PPA is not entered into, there is a possibility that the Songas Power Plant will be shut down indefinitely. To date the Songas Power Plant remains shutdown. This has adversely impacted demand for production volumes from the Songo Songo gas field.
    • Gas delivered and sold decreased by 3% for Q4 2024 and by 15% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the same prior year periods. During 2024, Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (“JNHPP”) commenced commercial operations, with progressive commissioning of 5 turbines allowing peak output of over 700 MW. Combined with the early onset of the wet season and rainfall well above seasonal averages for the period, hydro power generation and the Songas Power Plant shutdown have been the primary factors in reduced gas liftings for the power sector.
    • On April 14, 2023, PAET formally requested Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation (“TPDC“) apply for an extension of the Songo Songo Development License (the “License”). TPDC is contractually required to make this application promptly upon a request by the Company. There are currently no certainties on the timing, nature and extent of any such extensions. Until such extension has been finalized, a high degree of uncertainty exists with respect to the extent of the Company’s operating activities subsequent to October 2026, when the License is set to expire. In November 2024, TPDC submitted the application for the extension of the License to the Ministry of Energy (“MoE“), however, being uneconomical, the Company informed TPDC that it did not agree with the terms as submitted. Having declined to address PAET’s concerns itself, TPDC has refused to rescind and resubmit the application and has advised PAET to raise any issues directly to the MoE. Our Counsel subsequently submitted a letter to the MoE, requesting a meeting to address the issues, to date we haven’t had a response.
    • On April 15, 2024, contrary to the terms of the Gas Agreement and Production Sharing Agreement (the “PSA”) and in violation of Pan African Energy Corporation (Mauritius) (“PAEM”) and PAET’s expectations, the Permanent Secretary of MoE wrote to TPDC, copying PAET and Songas, directing TPDC to “ensure that Protected Gas continues to be produced to the end of the Development Licence on 10th October 2026”. Consistent with that instruction, TPDC took the position that Protected Gas should continue despite the parties’ contractual agreement that Protected Gas ceased after July 31, 2024.
    • PAET, TPDC and Tanzania Portland Cement PLC (“TPCPLC”) subsequently agreed to the terms of the Supplementary Gas Agreement (“SGA”) to sell volumes after July 31, 2024 as Additional Gas, which, prior to August 1, 2024, were supplied as Protected Gas. TPCPLC has fully paid the Company $10.4 million of the receivable outstanding as at December 31, 2024.
    • Following cessation of Protected Gas after July 31, 2024, despite the absence of an executed contract to do so, Songas continued to lift gas volumes in August, September and October 2024, at an average rate of 20.2 MMcfd. On September 23, 2024, the Company was notified by Songas that it acknowledges it had lifted this volume, but due to TPDC’s refusal to approve a Gas Sales Agreement for this Additional Gas, they would elect to pay for only 19.5% of such volumes. This accords with the payment arrangements for Complex Additional Gas (defined below). Payments were made on this basis by Songas in Q4 2024, in the amount of $1.9 million representing 19.5% of the total invoiced amount of $9.7 million.
    • On August 7, 2024, PAET and PAEM issued a notice of dispute (“Notice of Dispute”) in respect of an investment treaty claim against the GoT for breach of the Agreement on Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investment between the Government of the Republic of Mauritius and the GoT (“BIT”), and a contractual dispute against the Government of Tanzania (“GoT”) and TPDC, for breaches of the: (i) PSA, and (ii) the Gas Agreement. Initial meetings with both the Advisory and Coordinating Committees were held during the week of October 14, 2024 without any resolution on the key issues in dispute. The matters have been further referred to the relevant entity’s chief executive officers and working groups in accordance with the dispute resolution process. Discussions continued with meetings held in March 2025 . Further updates on this matter will be made as appropriate.
    • In February 2025, the Company received a judgment (the “Judgment”) from the Tanzanian High Court (Commercial Division) (the “Court”) for a claim brought by a contractor against PAET. The claim was brought by the contractor for losses arising from PAET’s termination of a contract relating to the Company’s 3D seismic acquisition program. The contract was signed in 2022 and works were due to be completed by the end of 2022. However, work only commenced in 2023 and was never completed. Pursuant to the Judgment, the Court ordered specific and general damages in the aggregate of $23.1 million, plus legal costs and interest at a rate of 7% per annum be paid by PAET to the contractor. PAET respectfully disagrees with the Judgement and has initiated the appeal process. PAET was required to post security for the full amount of the Judgment until the appeal is resolved. The Company has recognised the resulting liability in 2024 based on the Judgement applied. The Company has initiated the appeal process, and if successful in that process, a reversal would be recognized in earnings at that time.
    • The well intervention operations on SS-7 have now concluded. The work program, following a complex mobilization to Songo Songo Island, sought to restore the mechanical integrity of the well to shutoff water production in order to restart production from the southern compartment of the Songo Songo gas field. Following several remedial cement treatments to shut off the lower water producing zone and reperforation of the upper Neocomian sands, limited and unsustained gas flows were observed. The Company, in line with its contingency plans, set a cement plug above the Neocomian interval and perforated the shallower Cenomanian sands. Having completed all possible downhole work, and after an unsuccessful attempt to produce gas from the Cenomanian sands, the Company ceased well intervention operations and demobilized the barge and jack-up from the SS-7 site. The total expected project cost has increased to $25.9 million from $23.5 million, primarily as a result of the significant attempts required to shut off water and reproduce the well. A comprehensive post project analysis will be carried out to evaluate the intervention results, which have not met production expectations. During the year, the Company recorded an asset impairment expense of $25.9 million with respect to the SS-7 well workover program.
    • The Company completed a production and saturation logging program in three wells: SS-3, SS-10 and SS-5. Results indicate that the wells and field are performing in line with expectations, and have been used to update longer term reservoir management plans. The total expected program cost increased to $2.2 million from $1.3 million.
    • Net loss attributable to shareholders amounted to $21.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to net income attributable to shareholders of $7.0 million for the same prior year period. In Q4 2024, the Company recorded an asset impairment expense of $25.9 million with respect to the SS-7 well workover program and a loss allowance of $21.7 million with respect to the ongoing litigation relating to the Judgment in the High Court of Tanzania.
    • Net cash flows from operating activities decreased by 37% for Q4 2024 and by 44% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the same prior year periods. The decrease for the year ended December 31, 2024 over the comparable prior year period is mainly a result of changes in non-cash working capital.
    • Capital expenditures increased by 635% for Q4 2024 and by 244% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the same prior year periods. The capital expenditures in 2024 primarily related to the well workover program. The capital expenditures in 2023 primarily related to the initial costs of the well workover program and the 3D seismic acquisition program.
    • The Company exited the period with $21.9 million in working capital (December 31, 2023: $67.3 million), cash and cash equivalents of $90.1 million (December 31, 2023: $101.6 million) and long-term debt of $ nil (December 31, 2023: $30.0 million). Cash held in hard currencies (USD, Euro, GBP, CDN) was $87.1 million, as at December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: $60.4 million). The decrease in long-term debt is related to a repayment of principal of $10.0 million in April 2024 and October 2024, representing the fourth and fifth semi-annual repayments of the Company’s long-term debt as well as maturing of the outstanding loan principal.
    • Subsequent to December 31, 2024, the Company fully prepaid the $60 million investment (the “Loan”) made by International Finance Corporation (“IFC”) in PAET, pursuant to a loan agreement dated October 29, 2015 between the IFC, PAET and the Company (the “Loan Agreement”). To effect the foregoing prepayment, the Company paid to IFC $30.6 million, representing the aggregate outstanding principal of the Loan together with all accrued interest thereon and all other amounts owing in connection with the Loan as of February 21, 2025. As of the date hereof, the annual variable participating interest granted by PAET to the IFC under the terms of the Loan Agreement remains outstanding.
    • As at December 31, 2024, the current receivable from TANESCO was $12.7 million (December 31, 2023: $5.9 million). The TANESCO long-term receivable as at December 31, 2024 and as at December 31, 2023 was $22.0 million and has been fully provided for. Subsequent to December 31, 2024, the Company has invoiced TANESCO $14.5 million for Q1 2025 gas deliveries. TANESCO has paid the Company $24.2 million to date which relate to the outstanding amount at December 31, 2024 and payments for a portion of Q1 2025 gas deliveries
    • Total working interest proved conventional natural gas reserves (“1P”) and total proved plus probable conventional natural gas reserves (“2P”) decreased by 53% and 56%, respectively, as at December 31, 2024 compared to the prior year. The decrease was primarily attributed to 26.7 Bcf of production in 2024 and 18.1 Bcf of negative technical revisions. The technical revisions were primarily due to lower forecasted gas sales to the end of the License attributed to increased hydro power use in Tanzania and the removal of Proved Undeveloped reserves due to the unsuccessful well intervention on SS-7. The net present value of lower reserves and estimated future cash flows from 2P reserves at a 10% discount rate decreased by 45% compared to the previous year mainly as a result of lower reserves at year end 2024 and the associated 33% reduction in the number of years outstanding on the current License.
    • We currently forecast average Additional Gas sales for 2025 to be in the range of 70-72 MMcfd for the full year which is estimated to be 4% lower than 2024. Given the uncertainty associated with the extension of the License, capital allocations for development projects will be minimal during 2025 and limited to the implementation of essential safety and maintenance matters only.
    Financial and Operating Highlights for the Three Months and Year Ended December 31, 2024
        Three Months
    ended December 31    		     % Change         Year ended
    December 31        		    % Change           

    (Expressed in $’000 unless indicated otherwise)

    2024

    		  

    2023

    		   Q4/24 vs
    Q4/23

    2024

    		  

    2023

    		 Ytd/24 vs
    Ytd/23    		  
    OPERATING              
    Daily average gas delivered and sold(MMcfd) 78.6   80.8   (3)%   72.9   85.6 (15 )%    
    Industrial 19.7   13.4   47%   16.1   13.7 18 %    
    Power 58.9   67.4   (13)%   56.8   71.9 (21 )%    
    Daily average gas delivered and sold and revenue recognized(MMcfd) 71.8   80.8   (11)%   68.8   85.6 (20 )%    
    Industrial 19.7   13.4   47%   16.1   13.7 18 %    
    Power 52.1   67.4   (23)%   52.7   71.9 (27 )%    
    Average price($/mcf)                
    Industrial 7.35   8.97   (18)% 8.45   8.73   (3)%       
    Power 3.90   3.84   2% 3.88   3.71   5%       
    Weighted average 4.85   4.69   3% 4.95   4.51   10%       
    Operating netback($/mcf)1 3.56   2.28   56% 3.13   2.38   32%       

    FINANCIAL

    		              
    Revenue 36,855   24,448   51% 111,593   110,235 1%       
    Net (loss) / income attributable to shareholders (25,821 ) (438 ) n/m (21,578)   7,014 n/m      
    per share – basic and diluted($) (1.31 ) (0.02 ) n/m (1.09)   0.35 n/m      
    Net cash flows from operating activities 6,254   9,858   (37)% 27,086   48,485 (44)%      
    per share – basic and diluted($)1 0.32   0.50   (36)% 1.37   2.44 (44)%      
    Capital expenditures1 14,869   2,065   620% 27,548   8,103 240%      
    Weighted average Class A and Class B Shares1(‘000) 19,772   19,826   0% 19,780   19,841 0%      
          December 31,

    As at
    December 31,

    		    
          2024   2023 % Change  
    Working capital (including cash)1       21,904     67,323   (67 )%        
    Cash and cash equivalents       90,076     101,566   (11 )%        
    Long-term loan       –   21,961   (100 )%        
    Outstanding shares(‘000)                    
    Class A       1,750     1,750   0 %        
    Class B       18,022     18,051   0 %        
    Total shares outstanding       19,772     19,801   0 %        

    RESERVES2

    		                  
    Gross Reserves(Bcf)                  
    Proved       40   85    (53)%      
    Probable       1   9    (89)%      
    Proved plus probable       41   94    (56)%      
    Net Present Value, discounted at 10%($ million)                    
    Proved                             62           108    (43)%          
    Proved plus probable                             65           119    (45)%          

    1 See Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Ratios.

    Jay Lyons, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

    “Orca remains committed to Tanzania and wants to play a key role in Tanzania’s power generation strategy for the foreseeable future. Although demand for power in Tanzania is growing rapidly, surpassing the country’s current capacity, Orca has been unable to agree with the Government of Tanzania and TPDC with regard to securing a license extension for the Songo Songo gas field.

    Given the limited time remaining on the License, and the lack of a resolution on an extension, Orca has limited capital spending to only essential safety and maintenance activities. At this current moment, further investment is not commercially viable unless the License is extended. Therefore, in order to preserve shareholder value, Orca has focused on reducing costs, operating efficiently, and minimizing expenditures.

    There are currently no certainties on the timing, nature and extent of any such extensions. Until such extension has been finalized, a high degree of uncertainty exists with respect to the extent of the Company’s operating activities subsequent to October 2026. The Company is prepared to invest further in Tanzania. However, this investment depends on resolving the License extension and achieving a sustainable commercial framework. Without a resolution, Orca must act to protect the interests of its shareholders, even as it continues to support Tanzania’s long-term energy goals.”

    The Company’s complete Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes and Management’s Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2024 may be found on the Company’s website www.orcaenergygroup.com or on the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

    Orca Energy Group Inc.

    Orca Energy Group Inc. is an international public company engaged in natural gas development and supply in Tanzania through its subsidiary PanAfrican Energy Tanzania Limited. Orca trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbols ORC.B and ORC.A.

    The principal asset of Orca is its indirect interest in the with TPDC and the GoT in the United Republic of Tanzania. This PSA covers the production and marketing of certain gas from the License offshore Tanzania. The PSA defines the gas produced from the Songo Songo gas field as “Protected Gas“ and “Additional Gas“. The Gas Agreement defined “Complex Additional Gas”, to be gas produced from the Songo Songo gas field, which is included in Additional Gas. Under the Gas Agreement, until July 31, 2024, Protected Gas was owned by TPDC and was sold to Songas and TPCPLC. After July 31, 2024, Protected Gas ceased and all production from the Songo Songo gas field constitutes Additional Gas which PAET and TPDC are entitled to sell on commercial terms until the PSA expires in October 2026. Songas is the owner of the infrastructure that enables the gas to be processed and delivered to Dar es Salaam, which includes a gas processing plant on Songo Songo Island. Additional Gas is all gas that is produced from the Songo Songo gas field in excess of Protected Gas.

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

    Abbreviations

    Bcf billion standard cubic feet
    MMcf million standard cubit feet
    MMcfd million standard cubic feet per day

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Ratios
    In this press release, the Company has disclosed the following non-GAAP financial measures, non-GAAP ratios and supplementary financial measures: capital expenditures, operating netback, operating netback per mcf, working capital, net cash flows from operating activities per share and weighted average Class A and Class B Shares.

    These non-GAAP financial measures and ratios disclosed in this press release do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar financial measures disclosed by other issuers. These non-GAAP financial measures and ratios should not, therefore, be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, measures and ratios of the Company’s financial performance defined or determined in accordance with IFRS. These non-GAAP financial measures and ratios are calculated on a consistent basis from period to period.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    Capital expenditures
    Capital expenditures is a useful measure as it provides an indication of our investment activities. The most directly comparable financial measure is net cash from (used in) investing activities. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable financial measure is as follows:

      Three Months ended 
    December 31    		    Year ended
    December 31       		  
    $’000 2024   2023     2024   2023  
    Pipelines, well workovers and infrastructure 14,869   2,067     27,233   7,984  
    Other capital expenditures –   (2 )   315   119  
    Capital expenditures 14,869   2,065     27,548   8,103  
    Right of use –   852     57   852  
    Change in non-cash working capital (4,125 ) (708 )   (9,645 ) (161 )
    Net cash used by investing activities 10,744   2,209     17,960   8,794  

    Operating netback

    Operating netback is calculated as revenue less processing and transportation tariffs, TPDC’s revenue share, and operating and distribution costs. The operating netback summarizes all costs that are associated with bringing the gas from the Songo Songo gas field to the market, it is a measure of profitability. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable financial measure is as follows:

      Three Months ended
    December 31    		   Year ended
    December 31    		  
    $’000 2024   2023     2024   2023  
    Revenue 36,855   24,448     111,593   110,235  
    Production, distribution and transportation expenses (5,265 ) (4,576 )   (19,990 ) (19,197 )
    Net Production Revenue 31,590   19,872     91,603   91,038  
    Less current income tax adjustment (recorded in revenue) (8,061 ) (2,896 )   (12,817 ) (16,527 )
    Operating netback 23,529   16,976     78,786   74,511  
    Sales volumes MMcf where revenue is recognized 6,604   7,435     25,185   31,256  
    Netback $/mcf 3.56   2.28     3.13   2.38  

    Non-GAAP Ratios

    Operating netback per mcf

    Operating netback per mcf represents the profit margin associated with the production and sale of Additional Gas and is calculated by taking the operating netback and dividing it by the volume of Additional Gas delivered and sold. This is a key measure as it demonstrates the profit generated from each unit of production.

    Supplementary Financial Measures

    Working capital

    Working capital is defined as current assets less current liabilities, as reported in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. It is an important measure as it indicates the Company’s ability to meet its financial obligations as they fall due.

    Net cash flows from operating activities per share

    Net cash flows from operating activities per share is calculated as net cash flows from operating activities divided by the weighted average number of shares, similar to the calculation of earnings per share. Net cash flow from operations is an important measure as it indicates the cash generated from the operations that is available to fund ongoing capital commitments.

    Weighted average Class A and Class B Shares

    In calculating the weighted average number of shares outstanding during any period the Company takes the opening balance multiplied by the number of days until the balance changes. It then takes the new balance and multiplies that by the number of days until the next change, or until the period end. The resulting multiples of shares and days are then aggregated and the total is divided by the total number of days in the period.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this press release, which address activities, events or developments that Orca expects or anticipates to occur in the future, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements often contain terms such as may, will, should, anticipate, expect, continue, estimate, believe, project, forecast, plan, intend, target, outlook, focus, could and similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. More particularly, this press release contains, without limitation, forward-looking statements pertaining to the following: anticipated average gas sales, including Additional Gas sales, for 2024; ongoing negotiation of new commercial terms and discussion of requirements under the Gas Agreement with Songas and TPCPLC; ongoing discussion of PGSA extension with TANESCO; assessment by the Company of the merits of the claim made by the seismic contractor and the timing of the scheduled hearing; planned intervention in offshore well SS-7 including timing, project costs and the anticipated increased gas delivery; planned installation of a new common well inlet manifold and its anticipated timing, costs and effects; planned production logging program at various wells and its anticipated timing, costs and effects; implementation of a new work program at the Songas plant and forecasted production improvement as a result; the Company’s expectation that capital projects will be funded through the Company’s working capital; the Company’s expectation that all capital allocation decisions will be based upon prudent economic evaluations and returns; extension of the development license and the Company’s expectation to continue to actively engage with the MoE to progress the license extension; maintenance of gas sale contract discipline by the Company in accordance with its gas supply agreements; and the Company’s expectations regarding supply and demand of natural gas. In addition, statements relating to “reserves” are by their nature forward-looking statements, as they involve the implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions that the reserves described can be produced profitably in the future. The recovery and reserve estimates of the Company’s reserves provided herein are estimates only and there is no guarantee that the estimated reserves will be recovered. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, access to resources and infrastructure, performance or achievement since such expectations are inherently subject to significant business, economic, operational, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies.

    These forward-looking statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company’s control, and many factors could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by the Company, including, but not limited to: risk that the Company may incur losses and legal expenses as a result of the claim brought forth by the seismic contractor; risk that the cost, timing and anticipated benefits from the Company’s various development programs in 2024 are different than expected; that not all capital allocation decisions will be based upon prudent economic evaluations and returns; inability to extend the development license and inability to maintain gas sale contract discipline; uncertainties with respect to negotiations involving the Gas Agreement; changes to forecasts regarding future development capital spending and source of capital funding; risk of future restrictions on the movement of cash from Jersey, Mauritius or Tanzania; occurrence of circumstance or events which significantly impact the Company’s cash flow and liquidity and the Company’s ability cover its long-term and short-term obligations or fund planned capital expenditures; prolonged foreign exchange reserves deficiency in Tanzania; the lack of availability of US dollars; inability to convert Tanzanian shillings into US dollars as and when required; discontinuation of work by the Company with the GoT on alternative development plan for longer term field development; lack of access to Songas processing and transportation facilities; risk of reduced current and potential production capacity of the Songo Songo gas field; the Company’s expectations regarding the supply and demand of natural gas is incorrect; uncertainty associated with the evolution of Tanzanian legislation; the risk of unanticipated effects regarding changes to the Company’s tax liabilities and its operations as a result of amendments made to existing legislation, the implementation of further legislation and the Company’s interpretation of the same; the impact of general economic conditions in the areas in which the Company operates; civil unrest; the susceptibility of the areas in which the Company operates to outbreaks of disease; industry conditions; changes in laws and regulations including the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations; impact of local content regulations and variances in the interpretation and enforcement of such regulations; the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management; fluctuations in commodity prices, foreign exchange or interest rates; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, capital, oil and gas field services and skilled personnel and increased competition; failure to obtain required equipment for field development; delays in development plans; effect of changes to the PSA on the Company as a result of the implementation of new government policies for the oil and gas industry; inaccurate reserves estimates; incorrect forecasts in production and growth potential of the Company’s assets; obtaining required approvals of regulatory authorities; risks associated with negotiating with foreign governments; inability to satisfy debt conditions of financing; risk that the Company will not be able to fulfil its contractual obligations; risk that trade and other receivables may not be paid by the Company’s customers when due; the risk that the Company’s Tanzanian operations will not provide near term revenue earnings; reduced global economic activity as a result of the continuing impacts of geo-political conflicts or pandemics. In addition, there are risks and uncertainties associated with oil and gas operations, therefore the Company’s actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by these forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive therefrom. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

    Future shareholder returns, including but not limited to the payment of dividends or other distributions to shareholders, if any, and the level thereof is uncertain. Any decision to pay further distributions on the Class A Shares and Class B Shares (including the actual amount, the declaration date, the record date and the payment date in connection therewith) will be subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Company and may depend on a variety of factors, including, without limitation the Company’s business performance, financial condition, financial requirements, growth plans, expected capital requirements and other conditions existing at such future time including, without limitation, contractual restrictions and compliance with applicable laws. There can be no assurance that the Company will pay any distributions in the future.

    Such forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions made by the Company in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors the Company believes are appropriate in the circumstances, including, but not limited to, the anticipated supply and demand of natural gas are in line with the Company’s expectations; the Company’s average Additional Gas sales are in line with forecasts; accurate assessment by the Company of the merit of claims brought forward by the seismic contractor; successful negotiation of the Gas Agreement; successful implementation of various development programs at the budgeted expenditures, including the planned intervention in the SS-7 well; all capital allocation decisions will be based upon prudent economic evaluations and returns; extension of the development license and maintenance of gas sale contract discipline on a go-forward basis pursuant to the Company’s gas supply agreements; that the Company will receive payment of arrears from TANESCO; that the Company will have sufficient cash flow, debt or equity sources or other financial resources required to fund its capital and operating expenditures and requirements as needed; that there will continue to be no restrictions on the movement of cash from Mauritius, Jersey or Tanzania; availability of US dollars and that the Company will continue to be able to convert Tanzanian shillings into US dollars as required; that the Company will successfully negotiate agreements; receipt of required regulatory approvals; the ability of the Company to increase production as required to meet demand; infrastructure capacity; commodity prices will not deteriorate significantly; the ability of the Company to obtain equipment and services in a timely manner to carry out exploration, development and exploitation activities; future capital expenditures; availability of skilled labor; timing and amount of capital expenditures; uninterrupted access to infrastructure; that the impact of increasing competition is consistent with expectations; conditions in general economic and financial markets; effects of regulation by governmental agencies; current or, where applicable, proposed industry conditions, laws and regulations will continue in effect or as anticipated as described herein; the effect of new environmental and climate-change related regulations will not negatively impact the Company; the Company is able to maintain strong commercial relationships with the GoT and other state and parastatal organizations; the current and future administration in Tanzania continues to honor the terms of the PSA and the Company’s other principal agreements; and other matters.

    The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Sony Corporation and BandLab Technologies Announce Strategic Partnership To Empower Creators With Cutting-Edge Technology And Opportunities That Make Music Creation More Accessible

    Source: Sony

    April 30, 2025

    Collaboration Brings New Technology and Artist Support to Millions of Creators, Starting with Spatial Sound Integration in BandLab

    April 30, 2025 (New York, NY) – Sony Corporation’s Personal Entertainment Business and BandLab Technologies today announced a strategic partnership set to redefine music creation for independent and emerging artists worldwide. By bringing together Sony’s legacy of audio excellence with BandLab, the world’s fast-growing social music creation platform, this collaboration reflects a shared mission to empower creators with cutting-edge technology and opportunities that fuel their growth, spark innovation, and build their careers—starting from the earliest stages of their musical journeys.

    The initial phase of this partnership integrates Sony’s Spatial Sound technology, 360 Reality Audio, directly into the BandLab app, giving millions of users around the world on any smartphone with a standard pair of headphones or earbuds the ability to both experience and make music in spatial audio.

    Starting this summer, BandLab users will be able to explore a curated collection of spatial-enabled beats in the BandLab Sounds marketplace and then build on them in BandLab Studio, adding vocals, instruments, and additional production to expand their creative possibilities within the immersive world of 360 Reality Audio.

    As the partnership evolves, a dedicated, co-branded hub within BandLab will act as a gateway for future offerings—integrating new technology and accessible tools for music creation while providing exclusive access to newly developed educational programs. Additionally, the collaboration will create additional opportunities to amplify BandLab artist success stories to a global audience, offering artists greater visibility as they reach new heights in their creative journeys.

    With over 100 million users across genres, skill levels, and geographies, BandLab is the world’s largest social music creation platform and a driving force in today’s music landscape. Together, Sony and BandLab are not only breaking down the barriers to make music, but also laying the foundation for a future where every artist has the means to create, connect, and share their music on a global stage.

    “This partnership reflects a shared belief that the technology and opportunities to create music should be available to everyone, not just a select few,” said Meng Ru Kuok, CEO & Co-Founder of BandLab Technologies. “By working with Sony Corporation, we’re combining our strengths to empower creators at every step of their journey. It’s not just about what artists can do today, but about what becomes possible when they’re given the right support to experiment and grow.”

    “Sony has long been committed to delivering premium audio experiences, and this partnership with BandLab allows us to deliver such experiences to music creators of all levels,” said Masaaki Oshima, Head of Personal Entertainment Business Unit, Sony Corporation. “By integrating our audio products and technology into BandLab’s ecosystem, we’re not only expanding access to immersive audio tools, but also strengthening our connection with the pro-consumer market, enhancing the way music is created and experienced. We’re excited to see how artists push creative boundaries with these new possibilities.”

    About Sony Corporation

    Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business. With the mission to “create the future of entertainment through the power of technology together with creators,” we aim to continue to deliver Kando* to people around the world.

    For more information, visit: Sony Corporation | Home

    • *Kando is a Japanese word that roughly translates to the sense of awe and emotion you feel when experiencing something beautiful and amazing for the first time.

    About BandLab Technologies

    BandLab Technologies is a collective of global music technology companies on a mission to break down the technical, geographic, and creative barriers for musicians and fans. Empowering creators at all stages of their creative process, the group’s wide range of offerings includes flagship mobile-first social music creation platform BandLab, award-winning, legendary desktop DAW Cakewalk, powerful artist services platform ReverbNation, and global beat and music marketplace Airbit. BandLab Technologies is headquartered in Singapore and is a division of Caldecott Music Group. For more information on BandLab Technologies, visit bandlabtechnologies.com.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: [Interview] A New and Enhanced Gallery Experience: How Samsung Transformed Photo Searching and Video Editing With the Galaxy S25 Series

    Source: Samsung

    Searching for one specific photo in an endless gallery on a smartphone can often be time-consuming. Editing multiple videos one by one may feel tedious and repetitive as well.
     
    The Galaxy S25 series uses vision AI technology and the understanding of natural language to address these issues and provide a more intuitive mobile experience for users in their daily lives. When searching for a photo in their gallery, users can enter keywords that describe the situation — such as the date or locality, any objects present, any actions taking place and so forth — and Galaxy AI will analyze them to find matching photos. In addition, the flagship series boasts Auto Trim, a new video editing feature that can automatically select key segments from multiple videos and edit them into a separate video.
     
    These features are the result of advanced research in visual technology and close collaboration. Samsung Newsroom met with developers from the Visual Technology Team of Samsung Research and the Visual Solution Team of the Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics to learn how the company developed even smarter photo and video experiences for Galaxy users.
     
    ▲ (From left) Wonwoo Lee, Inho Choi, Hongpyo Lee and Seonghwan Kim
     
     
    Labeling Every Element in a Photo With AI-Powered Classification
    Smartphones store a massive number of photos, with the average user having several thousand — or even tens of thousands — on their devices. As the number grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a specific photo right away. On the Galaxy S25 series, the Gallery app automatically tags and categorizes various elements in photos such as objects, people and localities, allowing users to quickly and accurately find the desired images. This is incredibly convenient for users who want to relive past memories or retrieve important information fast.
     
    Keeping in mind that an effective search depends on classification, the developers tripled the number of tag types compared to that of the previous Galaxy series, fine-tuning photo subject recognition and labeling capabilities in the Galaxy S25 series. In addition, they expanded the scope of clustering, a technique that groups data for people recognition.
     
    “By developing an image analysis engine and using zero-shot technology, we improved the performance so that the Galaxy S25 series can recognize object data it encounters for the first time,” said Hongpyo Lee from the Visual Technology Team at Samsung Research. “For people, we expanded analysis beyond facial features to include clothing, time and location, making it easier to group photos of the same person.”
     
    
    ▲ Gallery Search
     
     
    Finding Photos With Conversational, Natural Language Through Gallery Search
    Samsung also focused on enhancing natural language search performance in the Gallery. The company developed a search model that reflects frequently used phrases and various application cases, allowing users to find the photos they want using natural, conversational sentences instead of word-based searches.
     
    “We leveraged a vision-language model that learns by associating images with text and used generative AI to automatically generate a wide range of sentences that users might enter,” Lee shared. “We also optimized and compressed the search model so it runs quickly on-device.”
     
    “Building on our previous research, we successfully applied natural language processing capabilities to our products, including a context-aware image analysis engine and a large language model (LLM),” said Inho Choi from the Visual Solution Team of Samsung Electronics’ MX Business.
     
    The developers also worked to deliver unbiased and more accurate search results. “We wanted to anticipate various usage scenarios and identify potential issues in advance so that malicious search queries wouldn’t lead to inaccurate results,” Choi explained. “Building a database of negative words, profanity and neologisms, and then conducting user tests to improve search accuracy was both the most challenging and rewarding part of the process.”
     
    ▲ Inho Choi from the MX Business and Hongpyo Lee from Samsung Research
     
     
    Editing Multiple Videos at Once With Auto Trim
    Video editing is also becoming an increasingly important part of the gallery experience. While video is a popular form of media consumption, having video editing tools readily available and using them with ease is often not as simple as it seems. To address this, the Galaxy S25 series introduces a feature that makes editing much faster and more convenient through enhanced AI-powered video analytics. The Auto Trim feature extracts key scenes from multiple videos of the user’s choice to create a new short-form video.
     
    It was important for Auto Trim to be able to quickly analyze videos up to 90 minutes long, generate an edited video and adjust the length of that new video. The developers achieved this through close collaboration, seamlessly integrating Samsung Research’s advanced technological expertise with the MX Business’ mobile optimization capabilities.
     
    “Existing video analytics technologies have limitations, such as large model sizes, slow processing speeds and the uniform selection of key video segments,” said Seonghwan Kim from the MX Business’ Visual Solution Team. “We optimized the Galaxy S25 series’ video processing performance by testing and verifying multiple candidate solutions to deliver a fast and easy editing experience based on on-device AI.”
     
    “We’ve introduced a feature that enables users to effortlessly identify key moments in videos, demanding significantly more data processing than photos, and tailor the duration of these edited segments to their preferences” explained Wonwoo Lee from Samsung Research’s Visual Technology Team.
     
    “Getting Galaxy AI to identify highlights in videos with a level of sensitivity comparable to that of humans was a challenge, but by establishing the standards together, Samsung Research and the MX Business were able to significantly improve overall functionality.”
     
    
    ▲ Auto Trim
     
     
    From Analyzing to Generating: Vision AI and Its Endless Possibilities
    Samsung Electronics is researching a wide range of vision AI technologies, ranging from filming and editing technologies for smartphones to multimodal interaction technologies used in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The core of this research is the ability to quickly and accurately analyze subjects such as people and animals, as well as their surroundings, in videos on-device, and to recognize the meaningful moments in those videos. Through vision AI technology, Samsung aims not only to evolve typical smartphone features like shooting and viewing photos and videos, but also pioneer novel ways to consume content.
     
    “We’re actively utilizing AI technology for fast, easy and high-quality editing in the video domain,” said Kim. “Samsung will focus on further developing the technology so that AI can better understand the context of video content, helping users reduce editing time effectively and generate edited videos that reflect the user’s intent — all without requiring professional editing skills.”
     
    “By continuously advancing video analytics technology, we aim to develop even more innovative features that leverage the power to understand video content — such as video search, intelligent video editing effects and beyond,”said Wonwoo Lee. “Samsung will strive to develop cutting-edge vision AI technology that can be applied across a broad range of use cases.”
     
    ▲ Seonghwan Kim from the MX Business and Wonwoo Lee from Samsung Research
     
    Gallery Search and Auto Trim are prime examples of how Galaxy AI enhances everyday life. As developers continue to advance the company’s image and video analytics technology, Samsung Electronics will deliver an expanding range of new experiences that make it easier and more intuitive for users to find and capture life’s key moments.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Electronics Announces First Quarter 2025 Results

    Source: Samsung

    Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
     
    The Company posted KRW 79.14 trillion in consolidated revenue, an all-time quarterly high, on the back of strong sales of flagship Galaxy S25 smartphones and high-value-added products. Operating profit increased to KRW 6.7 trillion despite headwinds for the DS Division, which experienced a decrease in quarterly revenue.
     
    The Company has allocated its highest-ever annual R&D expenditure for 2024, and in the first quarter of this year, it has also increased its R&D expenditure by 16% compared to the same period last year, amounting to 9 trillion won.
     
    Despite the growing macroeconomic uncertainties due to recent global trade tensions and slowing global economic growth, making it difficult to predict future performance, the Company will continue to make various efforts to secure growth. Additionally, assuming that the uncertainties are diminished, it expects its performance to improve in the second half of the year.
     
     
    Semiconductors Projected To Continue Growth by Meeting Evolving AI Needs
    The DS Division posted KRW 25.1 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 1.1 trillion in operating profit for the first quarter.
     
    For the Memory Business, revenue was driven by expanded server DRAM sales and the addressing of additional NAND demand amid a perceived bottoming out of the market price.
     
    However, overall earnings were impacted by the erosion of average selling price (ASP), as well as a decrease in HBM sales due to export controls on AI chips and deferred demand in anticipation of upcoming enhanced HBM3E products.
     
    In Q2 2025, the Memory Business anticipates robust demand for AI servers and will therefore seek to strengthen our position in the high-value-added market via our server-centric portfolio, along with a ramp-up of the enhanced HBM3E 12H to meet initial demand. For NAND, the Memory Business seeks to enhance cost competitiveness by accelerating the transition to 8th Generation V-NAND for all applications.
     
    In H2 2025, AI-related demand is expected to remain high in conjunction with the launch of new GPUs. Therefore, the Memory Business will expand the sales of high-value-added products, including enhanced HBM3E 12H products and high density DDR5 modules of 128GB or higher.
     
    In the mobile and PC markets, on-device AI is expected to proliferate, so the Memory Business will proactively respond to this shift in the business environment with its industry-leading 10.7Gbps LPDDR5x products.
     
    Earnings at the System LSI Business improved modestly, due to an increased supply of high-resolution sensors and LSI products. This improvement came despite a sluggish smartphone market and the delayed adoption of the Company’s flagship system-on-a-chip (SoC).
     
    In Q2 2025, the System LSI Business will maintain steady revenue by gaining SoC adoption by a major customer for new flagship models and capitalizing on the growing adoption of 200-megapixel sensors.
     
    In H2 2025, the System LSI Business will expand its flagship SoC supply, proactively address demand for high-resolution main and telephoto camera sensors and expand its automotive sensor portfolio.
     
    Earnings for the Foundry Business were muted due to sluggish seasonal mobile demand, inventory adjustments and stagnant fab utilization. However, the Business focused on the 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process, improving yields and stabilizing the line while keeping the program on schedule, while also securing additional sub-5nm orders, specifically the 2nm and 4nm nodes for AI and HPC applications.
     
    In Q2 2025, the Business will stabilize its 2nm process production and drive earnings improvement by actively addressing strong mobile and automotive demand in the United States. Looking ahead to H2 2025, the Foundry Business aims to start 2nm mass production and secure major 2nm orders and strengthen its specialty process portfolio on mature nodes.
     
     
    SDC Aims To Navigate Challenges and Drive Growth With Differentiated Offerings
    Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) posted KRW 5.9 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 0.5 trillion in operating profit for the first quarter.
     
    For the mobile display business, SDC reported declining profits QoQ due to seasonality. The results of the large display business have improved via the launch of new QD-OLED monitor products for major clients.
     
    In Q2 2025, the mobile display business maintains a conservative outlook on earnings while pursuing the stable supply of new products such as foldables. For the large display business, demand for gaming monitors is expected to grow due to the upcoming launches of new products.
     
    In H2 2025, SDC aims to grow the mobile display business sales through differentiated technologies and products amid rising market uncertainties. For the large display business, SDC will strengthen its presence in both B2C and B2B monitor markets with diverse product lineups.
     
     
    MX Achieves Revenue Growth, Continues To Expand AI Capabilities
    The MX and Networks businesses posted KRW 37 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 4.3 trillion in operating profit for the first quarter.
     
    The MX Business experienced QoQ growth in both revenue and operating profit thanks to the strong sales of its Galaxy S25 series, which features an advanced Galaxy AI experience. Enhanced cost competency and price declines for some components also contributed to solid double-digit profitability.
     
    In Q2 2025, the MX Business plans to sustain flagship-centric sales amid weak seasonality by successfully launching the Galaxy S25 Edge. It will also expand its AI smartphone lineup through the introduction of “Awesome Intelligence” to the Galaxy A series.
     
    In H2 2025, the MX Business will strengthen its foldable lineup by offering a differentiated AI user experience. In addition, the Business will launch new ecosystem products with enhanced AI and health capabilities, and explore new product segments such as XR.
     
     
    Visual Display Posts Solid Performance, Strengthens Advanced AI Features
    The Visual Display and Digital Appliances businesses posted KRW 14.5 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 0.3 trillion in operating profit in the first quarter.
     
    The Visual Display Business recorded solid sales of strategic products such as Neo QLEDs, OLEDs, and large models of 75 inches and over, while price increases and material cost reductions resulted in improved QoQ profitability.
     
    In Q2 2025, the Business intends to expand TV sales with its 2025 AI TV lineup and the integration of advanced AI functions.
     
    In H2 2025, the Business will focus on capturing peak season demand by strategic collaboration with distributors, based on an enhanced AI TV lineup.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Sony Corporation and BandLab Technologies Announce Strategic Partnership To Empower Creators With Cutting-Edge Technology And Opportunities That Make Music Creation More Accessible

    Source: Sony

    April 30, 2025

    Collaboration Brings New Technology and Artist Support to Millions of Creators, Starting with Spatial Sound Integration in BandLab

    April 30, 2025 (New York, NY) – Sony Corporation’s Personal Entertainment Business and BandLab Technologies today announced a strategic partnership set to redefine music creation for independent and emerging artists worldwide. By bringing together Sony’s legacy of audio excellence with BandLab, the world’s fast-growing social music creation platform, this collaboration reflects a shared mission to empower creators with cutting-edge technology and opportunities that fuel their growth, spark innovation, and build their careers—starting from the earliest stages of their musical journeys.

    The initial phase of this partnership integrates Sony’s Spatial Sound technology, 360 Reality Audio, directly into the BandLab app, giving millions of users around the world on any smartphone with a standard pair of headphones or earbuds the ability to both experience and make music in spatial audio.

    Starting this summer, BandLab users will be able to explore a curated collection of spatial-enabled beats in the BandLab Sounds marketplace and then build on them in BandLab Studio, adding vocals, instruments, and additional production to expand their creative possibilities within the immersive world of 360 Reality Audio.

    As the partnership evolves, a dedicated, co-branded hub within BandLab will act as a gateway for future offerings—integrating new technology and accessible tools for music creation while providing exclusive access to newly developed educational programs. Additionally, the collaboration will create additional opportunities to amplify BandLab artist success stories to a global audience, offering artists greater visibility as they reach new heights in their creative journeys.

    With over 100 million users across genres, skill levels, and geographies, BandLab is the world’s largest social music creation platform and a driving force in today’s music landscape. Together, Sony and BandLab are not only breaking down the barriers to make music, but also laying the foundation for a future where every artist has the means to create, connect, and share their music on a global stage.

    “This partnership reflects a shared belief that the technology and opportunities to create music should be available to everyone, not just a select few,” said Meng Ru Kuok, CEO & Co-Founder of BandLab Technologies. “By working with Sony Corporation, we’re combining our strengths to empower creators at every step of their journey. It’s not just about what artists can do today, but about what becomes possible when they’re given the right support to experiment and grow.”

    “Sony has long been committed to delivering premium audio experiences, and this partnership with BandLab allows us to deliver such experiences to music creators of all levels,” said Masaaki Oshima, Head of Personal Entertainment Business Unit, Sony Corporation. “By integrating our audio products and technology into BandLab’s ecosystem, we’re not only expanding access to immersive audio tools, but also strengthening our connection with the pro-consumer market, enhancing the way music is created and experienced. We’re excited to see how artists push creative boundaries with these new possibilities.”

    About Sony Corporation

    Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business. With the mission to “create the future of entertainment through the power of technology together with creators,” we aim to continue to deliver Kando* to people around the world.

    For more information, visit: Sony Corporation | Home

    • *Kando is a Japanese word that roughly translates to the sense of awe and emotion you feel when experiencing something beautiful and amazing for the first time.

    About BandLab Technologies

    BandLab Technologies is a collective of global music technology companies on a mission to break down the technical, geographic, and creative barriers for musicians and fans. Empowering creators at all stages of their creative process, the group’s wide range of offerings includes flagship mobile-first social music creation platform BandLab, award-winning, legendary desktop DAW Cakewalk, powerful artist services platform ReverbNation, and global beat and music marketplace Airbit. BandLab Technologies is headquartered in Singapore and is a division of Caldecott Music Group. For more information on BandLab Technologies, visit bandlabtechnologies.com.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: [Interview] A New and Enhanced Gallery Experience: How Samsung Transformed Photo Searching and Video Editing With the Galaxy S25 Series

    Source: Samsung

    Searching for one specific photo in an endless gallery on a smartphone can often be time-consuming. Editing multiple videos one by one may feel tedious and repetitive as well.
     
    The Galaxy S25 series uses vision AI technology and the understanding of natural language to address these issues and provide a more intuitive mobile experience for users in their daily lives. When searching for a photo in their gallery, users can enter keywords that describe the situation — such as the date or locality, any objects present, any actions taking place and so forth — and Galaxy AI will analyze them to find matching photos. In addition, the flagship series boasts Auto Trim, a new video editing feature that can automatically select key segments from multiple videos and edit them into a separate video.
     
    These features are the result of advanced research in visual technology and close collaboration. Samsung Newsroom met with developers from the Visual Technology Team of Samsung Research and the Visual Solution Team of the Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics to learn how the company developed even smarter photo and video experiences for Galaxy users.
     
    ▲ (From left) Wonwoo Lee, Inho Choi, Hongpyo Lee and Seonghwan Kim
     
     
    Labeling Every Element in a Photo With AI-Powered Classification
    Smartphones store a massive number of photos, with the average user having several thousand — or even tens of thousands — on their devices. As the number grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a specific photo right away. On the Galaxy S25 series, the Gallery app automatically tags and categorizes various elements in photos such as objects, people and localities, allowing users to quickly and accurately find the desired images. This is incredibly convenient for users who want to relive past memories or retrieve important information fast.
     
    Keeping in mind that an effective search depends on classification, the developers tripled the number of tag types compared to that of the previous Galaxy series, fine-tuning photo subject recognition and labeling capabilities in the Galaxy S25 series. In addition, they expanded the scope of clustering, a technique that groups data for people recognition.
     
    “By developing an image analysis engine and using zero-shot technology, we improved the performance so that the Galaxy S25 series can recognize object data it encounters for the first time,” said Hongpyo Lee from the Visual Technology Team at Samsung Research. “For people, we expanded analysis beyond facial features to include clothing, time and location, making it easier to group photos of the same person.”
     
    
    ▲ Gallery Search
     
     
    Finding Photos With Conversational, Natural Language Through Gallery Search
    Samsung also focused on enhancing natural language search performance in the Gallery. The company developed a search model that reflects frequently used phrases and various application cases, allowing users to find the photos they want using natural, conversational sentences instead of word-based searches.
     
    “We leveraged a vision-language model that learns by associating images with text and used generative AI to automatically generate a wide range of sentences that users might enter,” Lee shared. “We also optimized and compressed the search model so it runs quickly on-device.”
     
    “Building on our previous research, we successfully applied natural language processing capabilities to our products, including a context-aware image analysis engine and a large language model (LLM),” said Inho Choi from the Visual Solution Team of Samsung Electronics’ MX Business.
     
    The developers also worked to deliver unbiased and more accurate search results. “We wanted to anticipate various usage scenarios and identify potential issues in advance so that malicious search queries wouldn’t lead to inaccurate results,” Choi explained. “Building a database of negative words, profanity and neologisms, and then conducting user tests to improve search accuracy was both the most challenging and rewarding part of the process.”
     
    ▲ Inho Choi from the MX Business and Hongpyo Lee from Samsung Research
     
     
    Editing Multiple Videos at Once With Auto Trim
    Video editing is also becoming an increasingly important part of the gallery experience. While video is a popular form of media consumption, having video editing tools readily available and using them with ease is often not as simple as it seems. To address this, the Galaxy S25 series introduces a feature that makes editing much faster and more convenient through enhanced AI-powered video analytics. The Auto Trim feature extracts key scenes from multiple videos of the user’s choice to create a new short-form video.
     
    It was important for Auto Trim to be able to quickly analyze videos up to 90 minutes long, generate an edited video and adjust the length of that new video. The developers achieved this through close collaboration, seamlessly integrating Samsung Research’s advanced technological expertise with the MX Business’ mobile optimization capabilities.
     
    “Existing video analytics technologies have limitations, such as large model sizes, slow processing speeds and the uniform selection of key video segments,” said Seonghwan Kim from the MX Business’ Visual Solution Team. “We optimized the Galaxy S25 series’ video processing performance by testing and verifying multiple candidate solutions to deliver a fast and easy editing experience based on on-device AI.”
     
    “We’ve introduced a feature that enables users to effortlessly identify key moments in videos, demanding significantly more data processing than photos, and tailor the duration of these edited segments to their preferences” explained Wonwoo Lee from Samsung Research’s Visual Technology Team.
     
    “Getting Galaxy AI to identify highlights in videos with a level of sensitivity comparable to that of humans was a challenge, but by establishing the standards together, Samsung Research and the MX Business were able to significantly improve overall functionality.”
     
    
    ▲ Auto Trim
     
     
    From Analyzing to Generating: Vision AI and Its Endless Possibilities
    Samsung Electronics is researching a wide range of vision AI technologies, ranging from filming and editing technologies for smartphones to multimodal interaction technologies used in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The core of this research is the ability to quickly and accurately analyze subjects such as people and animals, as well as their surroundings, in videos on-device, and to recognize the meaningful moments in those videos. Through vision AI technology, Samsung aims not only to evolve typical smartphone features like shooting and viewing photos and videos, but also pioneer novel ways to consume content.
     
    “We’re actively utilizing AI technology for fast, easy and high-quality editing in the video domain,” said Kim. “Samsung will focus on further developing the technology so that AI can better understand the context of video content, helping users reduce editing time effectively and generate edited videos that reflect the user’s intent — all without requiring professional editing skills.”
     
    “By continuously advancing video analytics technology, we aim to develop even more innovative features that leverage the power to understand video content — such as video search, intelligent video editing effects and beyond,”said Wonwoo Lee. “Samsung will strive to develop cutting-edge vision AI technology that can be applied across a broad range of use cases.”
     
    ▲ Seonghwan Kim from the MX Business and Wonwoo Lee from Samsung Research
     
    Gallery Search and Auto Trim are prime examples of how Galaxy AI enhances everyday life. As developers continue to advance the company’s image and video analytics technology, Samsung Electronics will deliver an expanding range of new experiences that make it easier and more intuitive for users to find and capture life’s key moments.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Samsung Electronics Announces First Quarter 2025 Results

    Source: Samsung

    Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
     
    The Company posted KRW 79.14 trillion in consolidated revenue, an all-time quarterly high, on the back of strong sales of flagship Galaxy S25 smartphones and high-value-added products. Operating profit increased to KRW 6.7 trillion despite headwinds for the DS Division, which experienced a decrease in quarterly revenue.
     
    The Company has allocated its highest-ever annual R&D expenditure for 2024, and in the first quarter of this year, it has also increased its R&D expenditure by 16% compared to the same period last year, amounting to 9 trillion won.
     
    Despite the growing macroeconomic uncertainties due to recent global trade tensions and slowing global economic growth, making it difficult to predict future performance, the Company will continue to make various efforts to secure growth. Additionally, assuming that the uncertainties are diminished, it expects its performance to improve in the second half of the year.
     
     
    Semiconductors Projected To Continue Growth by Meeting Evolving AI Needs
    The DS Division posted KRW 25.1 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 1.1 trillion in operating profit for the first quarter.
     
    For the Memory Business, revenue was driven by expanded server DRAM sales and the addressing of additional NAND demand amid a perceived bottoming out of the market price.
     
    However, overall earnings were impacted by the erosion of average selling price (ASP), as well as a decrease in HBM sales due to export controls on AI chips and deferred demand in anticipation of upcoming enhanced HBM3E products.
     
    In Q2 2025, the Memory Business anticipates robust demand for AI servers and will therefore seek to strengthen our position in the high-value-added market via our server-centric portfolio, along with a ramp-up of the enhanced HBM3E 12H to meet initial demand. For NAND, the Memory Business seeks to enhance cost competitiveness by accelerating the transition to 8th Generation V-NAND for all applications.
     
    In H2 2025, AI-related demand is expected to remain high in conjunction with the launch of new GPUs. Therefore, the Memory Business will expand the sales of high-value-added products, including enhanced HBM3E 12H products and high density DDR5 modules of 128GB or higher.
     
    In the mobile and PC markets, on-device AI is expected to proliferate, so the Memory Business will proactively respond to this shift in the business environment with its industry-leading 10.7Gbps LPDDR5x products.
     
    Earnings at the System LSI Business improved modestly, due to an increased supply of high-resolution sensors and LSI products. This improvement came despite a sluggish smartphone market and the delayed adoption of the Company’s flagship system-on-a-chip (SoC).
     
    In Q2 2025, the System LSI Business will maintain steady revenue by gaining SoC adoption by a major customer for new flagship models and capitalizing on the growing adoption of 200-megapixel sensors.
     
    In H2 2025, the System LSI Business will expand its flagship SoC supply, proactively address demand for high-resolution main and telephoto camera sensors and expand its automotive sensor portfolio.
     
    Earnings for the Foundry Business were muted due to sluggish seasonal mobile demand, inventory adjustments and stagnant fab utilization. However, the Business focused on the 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process, improving yields and stabilizing the line while keeping the program on schedule, while also securing additional sub-5nm orders, specifically the 2nm and 4nm nodes for AI and HPC applications.
     
    In Q2 2025, the Business will stabilize its 2nm process production and drive earnings improvement by actively addressing strong mobile and automotive demand in the United States. Looking ahead to H2 2025, the Foundry Business aims to start 2nm mass production and secure major 2nm orders and strengthen its specialty process portfolio on mature nodes.
     
     
    SDC Aims To Navigate Challenges and Drive Growth With Differentiated Offerings
    Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) posted KRW 5.9 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 0.5 trillion in operating profit for the first quarter.
     
    For the mobile display business, SDC reported declining profits QoQ due to seasonality. The results of the large display business have improved via the launch of new QD-OLED monitor products for major clients.
     
    In Q2 2025, the mobile display business maintains a conservative outlook on earnings while pursuing the stable supply of new products such as foldables. For the large display business, demand for gaming monitors is expected to grow due to the upcoming launches of new products.
     
    In H2 2025, SDC aims to grow the mobile display business sales through differentiated technologies and products amid rising market uncertainties. For the large display business, SDC will strengthen its presence in both B2C and B2B monitor markets with diverse product lineups.
     
     
    MX Achieves Revenue Growth, Continues To Expand AI Capabilities
    The MX and Networks businesses posted KRW 37 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 4.3 trillion in operating profit for the first quarter.
     
    The MX Business experienced QoQ growth in both revenue and operating profit thanks to the strong sales of its Galaxy S25 series, which features an advanced Galaxy AI experience. Enhanced cost competency and price declines for some components also contributed to solid double-digit profitability.
     
    In Q2 2025, the MX Business plans to sustain flagship-centric sales amid weak seasonality by successfully launching the Galaxy S25 Edge. It will also expand its AI smartphone lineup through the introduction of “Awesome Intelligence” to the Galaxy A series.
     
    In H2 2025, the MX Business will strengthen its foldable lineup by offering a differentiated AI user experience. In addition, the Business will launch new ecosystem products with enhanced AI and health capabilities, and explore new product segments such as XR.
     
     
    Visual Display Posts Solid Performance, Strengthens Advanced AI Features
    The Visual Display and Digital Appliances businesses posted KRW 14.5 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 0.3 trillion in operating profit in the first quarter.
     
    The Visual Display Business recorded solid sales of strategic products such as Neo QLEDs, OLEDs, and large models of 75 inches and over, while price increases and material cost reductions resulted in improved QoQ profitability.
     
    In Q2 2025, the Business intends to expand TV sales with its 2025 AI TV lineup and the integration of advanced AI functions.
     
    In H2 2025, the Business will focus on capturing peak season demand by strategic collaboration with distributors, based on an enhanced AI TV lineup.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Locked up for life? Unpacking South Australia’s new child sex crime laws

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Criminologist, CQUniversity Australia

    Melnikov Dmitriy/Shutterstock

    It’s election time, which means the age old “tough on crime” rhetoric is being heralded by many politicians aiming to score votes.

    Opposition leader Peter Dutton is pushing for a national public sex offender register. Currently only Western Australia has a registry that is open to the public.

    In South Australia, Premier Peter Malinauskas brought in tougher child sex offender laws earlier this week.

    What are these new laws in SA?

    Under these new laws, serious child sex offenders are to be permanently locked up or electronically monitored, if they reoffend.

    Automatic indefinite detention is a significant change.

    Previously, the South Australian attorney-general could apply to the Supreme Court to request an offender be indefinitely detained, if the offender was considered to remain a danger to children and could not be rehabilitated.

    The courts would then decide if they would grant the request, basing their decision on medical and other expert evidence.

    The changes in SA mean those found guilty of a second serious sexual offence against anyone younger than 17 now receive automatic indefinite detention.

    To be considered for release under the new law, an offender needs to show they can control their sexual instincts – so the onus is on them to prove they are not at risk of reoffending.

    To achieve this, two court-selected psychologists would have to provide reports demonstrating the offender was both willing and able to resist committing further sex offences.

    And if they are ever released, they will be electronically monitored for the rest of their lives.

    In addition, registered child sex offenders would be banned from working with anyone under 18.

    The new law also strengthens “Carly’s Law”, which focuses on reducing the sexual grooming of children online by adult predators.

    Inconsistencies across Australia

    The age of legal consent is 16 across Australia, except SA and Tasmania, where it is 17.

    In 2024, an Australian Institute of Criminology report highlighted many of the inconsistencies across the country, including terminology and definitions of sexual offences, despite efforts to achieve national regularity.

    Each state and territory approaches the problem of child sexual abuse differently.

    In NSW, for example, sentencing for child sexual offences has increased over time. This reflects societal expectations given what we know now about the long-term, traumatic consequences of victimisation.

    However, one consideration in sentencing in NSW is whether the sentence could have a “crushing” effect on the offender, and whether they may be entitled to an “element of mercy”.

    Certainly, a full life sentence is a significant departure from this position.

    Why now?

    There is little doubt this is a political move, as these changes were first promised by Labor in the build-up to the 2022 SA election.

    Then in January 2025, Labor announced it planned to introduce them in March – right before the federal election.

    On the face of it, toughening laws aimed at reducing sexual violence against children is a good thing. No one would argue.

    However, the legislation has been fast-tracked in the wake of a number of cases where those previously convicted of a sexual offence against a child reoffended.

    One such case is Dylan Lloyd, who is alleged to have assaulted a 12-year-old girl while she travelled alone on a train. Lloyd had previously been convicted of assaulting a 10-year-old girl in 2021, and since then more alleged victims have come forward to police.

    Cases such as Lloyd’s are preventable, as in this case Lloyd should still be imprisoned. This is one step forward. But consistency across states is needed and the long-term consequences need considering more fully.

    Whether these laws will have the desired deterrent effect has not been answered.

    We need to ensure personal and societal factors affecting crime rates, and which influence peoples’ attitudes and behaviours, are not overlooked.

    Will the laws be good for the community?

    These changes do have the potential to have a meaningful impact, but changing the behaviour of potential offenders is far more complex.

    Potential offenders usually don’t consider the law. At a micro level, their behaviour is most affected by biological and psychological factors, including alcohol, drug addiction and mental health issues, as well as social and environmental factors.

    In addition, there are numerous human rights and constitutional issues with permanent detention or lifelong monitoring, and the SA government may be walking into a legal minefield now they have removed the possibility of parole.

    It would be better to allow judges options for discretion, as the context in which the offending happened is crucial in determining the likelihood of someone being successfully rehabilitated.

    Mandatory full life sentences ignore the fact many sex offenders can be successfully rehabilitated.

    One study in Queensland, which considered local and global evidence, indicated sexual recidivism can be significant reduced when offenders complete sex offender treatment programs.

    Although it costs money to run these programs, the savings outweigh the costs of ongoing incarceration – particularly if we consider indefinite detention.

    Black-and-white laws with little room for movement produce unintended and harmful outcomes.

    It will be interesting to see how the new laws in SA play out in court and if any other states and territories follow suit.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Locked up for life? Unpacking South Australia’s new child sex crime laws – https://theconversation.com/locked-up-for-life-unpacking-south-australias-new-child-sex-crime-laws-255429

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Did ‘induced atmospheric vibration’ cause blackouts in Europe? An electrical engineer explains the phenomenon

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian, Professor of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology

    The lights are mostly back on in Spain, Portugal and southern France after a widespread blackout on Monday.

    The blackout caused chaos for tens of millions of people. It shut down traffic lights and ATMs, halted public transport, cut phone service and forced people to eat dinner huddled around candles as night fell. Many people found themselves trapped in trains and elevators.

    Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said the exact cause of the blackout is yet to be determined. In early reporting, Portugal’s grid operator REN was quoted as blaming the event on a rare phenomenon known as “induced atmospheric vibration”. REN has since reportedly refuted this.

    But what is this vibration? And how can energy systems be improved to mitigate the risk of widespread blackouts?

    How much does weather affect electricity?

    Weather is a major cause of disruptions to electricity supply. In fact, in the United States, 83% of reported blackouts between 2000 and 2021 were attributed to weather-related events.

    The ways weather can affect the supply of electricity are manifold. For example, cyclones can bring down transmission lines, heatwaves can place too high a demand on the grid, and bushfires can raze substations.

    Wind can also cause transmission lines to vibrate. These vibrations are characterised by either high amplitude and low frequency (known as “conductor galloping”), or low amplitude and high frequency (known as “aeolian vibrations”).

    These vibrations are a significant problem for grid operators. They can place increased stress on grid infrastructure, potentially leading to blackouts.

    To reduce the risk of vibration, grid operators often use wire stabilisers known as “stock bridge dampers”.

    What is ‘induced atmospheric vibration’?

    Vibrations in power lines can also be caused by extreme changes in temperature or air pressure. And this is one hypothesis about what caused the recent widespread blackout across the Iberian peninsula.

    As The Guardian initially reported Portugal’s REN as saying:

    Due to extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain, there were anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines (400 kV), a phenomenon known as “induced atmospheric vibration”. These oscillations caused synchronisation failures between the electrical systems, leading to successive disturbances across the interconnected European network.

    In fact, “induced atmospheric vibration” is not a commonly used term, but it seems likely the explanation was intended to refer to physical processes climate scientists have known about for quite some time.

    In simple terms, it seems to refer to wavelike movements or oscillations in the atmosphere, caused by sudden changes in temperature or pressure. These can be triggered by extreme heating, large-scale energy releases (such as explosions or bushfires), or intense weather events.

    When a part of Earth’s surface heats up very quickly – due to a heatwave, for example – the air above it warms, expands and becomes lighter. That rising warm air creates a pressure imbalance with the surrounding cooler, denser air. The atmosphere responds to this imbalance by generating waves, not unlike ripples spreading across a pond.

    These pressure waves can travel through the atmosphere. In some cases, they can interact with power infrastructure — particularly long-distance, high-voltage transmission lines.

    These types of atmospheric waves are usually called gravity waves, thermal oscillations or acoustic-gravity waves. While the phrase “induced atmospheric vibration” is not formally established in meteorology, it seems to describe this same family of phenomena.

    What’s important is that it’s not just high temperatures alone that causes these effects — it’s how quickly and unevenly the temperature changes across a region. That’s what sets the atmosphere into motion and can cause power lines to vibrate. Again, though, it’s still unclear if this is what was behind the recent blackout in Europe.

    Atmospheric waves can sometimes be seen in clouds.
    Jeff Schmaltz/NASA

    More centralised, more vulnerable

    Understanding how the atmosphere behaves under these conditions is becoming increasingly important. As our energy systems become more interconnected and more dependent on long-distance transmission, even relatively subtle atmospheric disturbances can have outsized impacts. What might once have seemed like a fringe effect is now a growing factor in grid resilience.

    Under growing environmental and electrical stress, centralised energy networks are dangerously vulnerable. The increasing electrification of buildings, the rapid uptake of electric vehicles, and the integration of intermittent renewable energy sources have placed unprecedented pressure on traditional grids that were never designed for this level of complexity, dynamism or centralisation.

    Continuing to rely on centralised grid structures without fundamentally rethinking resilience puts entire regions at risk — not just from technical faults, but from environmental volatility.

    The way to avoid such catastrophic risks is clear: we must embrace innovative solutions such as community microgrids. These are decentralised, flexible and resilient energy networks that can operate independently when needed.

    Strengthening local energy autonomy is key to building a secure, affordable and future-ready electricity system.

    The European blackout, regardless of its immediate cause, demonstrates that our electrical grids have become dangerously sensitive. Failure to address these structural weaknesses will have consequences far worse than those experienced during the COVID pandemic.

    Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Did ‘induced atmospheric vibration’ cause blackouts in Europe? An electrical engineer explains the phenomenon – https://theconversation.com/did-induced-atmospheric-vibration-cause-blackouts-in-europe-an-electrical-engineer-explains-the-phenomenon-255497

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: On ‘moral panic’ and the courage to speak – the West’s silence on Gaza

    Palestinians do not have the luxury to allow Western moral panic to have its say or impact. Not caving in to this panic is one small, but important, step in building a global Palestine network that is urgently needed, writes Dr Ilan Pappé

    ANALYSIS: By Ilan Pappé

    Responses in the Western world to the genocide in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank raise a troubling question: why is the official West, and official Western Europe in particular, so indifferent to Palestinian suffering?

    Why is the Democratic Party in the US complicit, directly and indirectly, in sustaining the daily inhumanity in Palestine — a complicity so visible that it probably was one reason they lost the election, as the Arab American and progressive vote in key states could, and justifiably so, not forgive the Biden administration for its part in the genocide in the Gaza Strip?

    This is a pertinent question, given that we are dealing with a televised genocide that has now been renewed on the ground. It is different from previous periods in which Western indifference and complicity were displayed, either during the Nakba or the long years of occupation since 1967.

    During the Nakba and up to 1967, it was not easy to get hold of information, and the oppression after 1967 was mostly incremental, and, as such, was ignored by the Western media and politics, which refused to acknowledge its cumulative effect on the Palestinians.

    But these last 18 months are very different. Ignoring the genocide in the Gaza Strip and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank can only be described as intentional and not due to ignorance.

    Both the Israelis’ actions and the discourse that accompanies them are too visible to be ignored, unless politicians, academics, and journalists choose to do so.

    This kind of ignorance is, first and foremost, the result of successful Israeli lobbying that thrived on the fertile ground of an European guilt complex, racism and Islamophobia. In the case of the US, it is also the outcome of many years of an effective and ruthless lobbying machine that very few in academia, media, and, in particular, politics, dare to disobey.

    The moral panic phenomenon
    This phenomenon is known in recent scholarship as moral panic, very characteristic of the more conscientious sections of Western societies: intellectuals, journalists, and artists.

    Moral panic is a situation in which a person is afraid of adhering to his or her own moral convictions because this would demand some courage that might have consequences. We are not always tested in situations that require courage, or at least integrity. When it does happen, it is in situations where morality is not an abstract idea, but a call for action.

    This is why so many Germans were silent when Jews were sent to extermination camps, and this is why white Americans stood by when African Americans were lynched or, earlier on, enslaved and abused.

    What is the price that leading Western journalists, veteran politicians, tenured professors, or chief executives of well-known companies would have to pay if they were to blame Israel for committing a genocide in the Gaza Strip?

    It seems they are worried about two possible outcomes. The first is being condemned as antisemites or Holocaust deniers. Secondly, they fear an honest response would trigger a discussion that would include the complicity of their country, or Europe, or the West in general, in enabling the genocide and all the criminal policies against the Palestinians that preceded it.

    This moral panic leads to some astonishing phenomena. In general, it transforms educated, highly articulate and knowledgeable people into total imbeciles when they talk about Palestine.

    It disallows the more perceptive and thoughtful members of the security services from examining Israeli demands to include all Palestinian resistance on a terrorist list, and it dehumanises Palestinian victims in the mainstream media.

    Lack of compassion
    The lack of compassion and basic solidarity with the victims of genocide was exposed by the double standards shown by mainstream media in the West, and, in particular, by the more established newspapers in the US, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.

    When the editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Dr Ramzy Baroud, lost 56 members of his family — killed by the Israeli genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip — not one of his colleagues in American journalism bothered to talk to him or show any interest in hearing about this atrocity.

    On the other hand, a fabricated Israeli allegation of a connection between the Chronicle and a family, in whose block of flats hostages were held, triggered huge interest by these outlets.

    This imbalance in humanity and solidarity is just one example of the distortions that accompanies moral panic. I have little doubt that the actions against Palestinian or pro-Palestinian students in the US, or against known activists in Britain and France, as well as the arrest of the editor of the Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah, in Switzerland, are all manifestations of this distorted moral behaviour.

    A similar case unfolded just recently in Australia. Mary Kostakidis, a famous Australian journalist and former prime-time weeknight SBS World News Australia presenter, has been taken to the federal court over her — one should say quite tame — reporting on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

    The very fact that the court has not dismissed this allegation upon its arrival shows you how deeply rooted moral panic is in the Global North.

    But there is another side to it. Thankfully, there is a much larger group of people who are not afraid of taking the risks involved in clearly stating their support for the Palestinians, and who do show this solidarity while knowing it may lead to suspension, deportation, or even jail time. They are not easily found among the mainstream academia, media, or politics, but they are the authentic voice of their societies in many parts of the Western world.

    The Palestinians do not have the luxury of allowing Western moral panic to have its say or impact. Not caving in to this panic is one small but important step in building a global Palestine network that is urgently needed — firstly, to stop the destruction of Palestine and its people, and second, to create the conditions for a decolonised and liberated Palestine in the future.

    Dr Ilan Pappé is an Israeli historian, political scientist, and former politician. He is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, director of the university’s European Centre for Palestine Studies, and co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies. This article is republished from The Palestine Chronicle, 19 April 2025.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –